Light of Infinite: Recent Episodes
Erez Safar
Fall in love with life, through weekly bursts of ancient Jewish mystic inspiration!
Light of Infinite is a blog, a podcast, a festival and a soon to be released book series, where Erez Safar acts as Your Spiritual DJ, curating insights into the weekly Torah portion and the infinite light of Kabbalah.
Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. Bon Iver‘s self-titled album does it for me everytime– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it snaps me out of it. Of course, on an even more connected level are the songs from Jewish singers that blend our rich tradition into their own styles (Ishay Ribo, Eviatar Banai, Akiva, Erez Yechial etc.)
Song is at the center of all our rituals, and singing is the unifying element of communal prayer. King David used a harp to compose the Psalms. The Talmud teaches that the harp hung above King David’s bed, and at midnight a northern ruach (wind) would blow on the five strings, raising him from his sleep to study Torah until day break. The Zohar teaches that the five strings parallel the five books of Torah and are the instruments with which he composed much of Tehillim….
When you listen to music, you can feel some of what the artist is feeling when he sings. In the Talmud it teaches, “Words that emanate from the heart – enter the heart.” Kabbalists explain that music helps banish extraneous thoughts and clear the mind, cutting away impure thoughts that envelop the soul, allowing a person to connect to the Light of the Infinite. Music is also something that can be played in circles infinitely, in fact that is often how the prophets would reach their state of nevuah. It would be a repetitive riff being played until the riff would act as a mantra, a meditation, and prophecy would be reached.
** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-song-that-saved-my-life/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // @erezsafar
- 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
** 📚 BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events 🪬🤍🕊
As we touched on in the "Don’t Hate, Foster The People" chapter in my latest book, "Emanations of Illumination." Another way to think about our collective Oneness is through water. We know that water is fundamental to all life; our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. That means we have 73% in common with every person in the world.
This gives new meaning to the saying, “the grass is greener where you water it”. On top of that, people mirror each other’s inner belief systems, so if we aren’t “watering” ourselves and those around us in connectedness and positivity, then individually and collectively we can’t grow. Continually giving yourself and others life force is essential to being in a blissful and connected state. It takes work because on the other end of it is being unhappy, which is a vicious cycle and can lead to worry, anxiety, anger, and depression. Anger is toxic to your body and soul, often triggering one’s ‘fight or flight’ response, which floods the body with stress hormones, health issues & digestive problems.
The cure for all this is easier said than done, but it begins with a healthy perspective, with trust and faith that all is for the good and that everything will work out. This is part of the grass being greener where you water it. In life, there will always be two ways to look at everything coming your way, as a blessing or as a curse. The Torah last week and this week articulates this to a great degree. Showing time and again that it is ultimately up to us if we focus and manifest good & blessings, or if we bring about the opposite. So if our heads are filled with something negative, we need to remove the negativity and replace it with the positive.
** Read this article/chapter in full in my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.’ Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/greener-where-you-water-it/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // @erezsafar
- 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
** 📚 BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
*** ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events 🪬🤍🕊
So much anxiety is brought on by thinking one won’t receive what is just. Of course, everyone’s view of their own justice looks different. But the idea of not receiving what you think you deserve, whether from a person or the universe creates a division and distancing in one’s relationships to others, to oneself, and even to life itself.
Justice brings peace, but only when judgment/gevurah is balanced with the proper amount of mercy/chesed. When this is done right, it creates harmony/tiferet.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s last book is titled, ‘Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue’, aptly pulling the words from this week’s parsha, Judges. One lesson to be learned from Ginsberg through her relationship with her Supreme Court colleague, Scalia, is how they exemplified putting aside their egos, building a personal relationship based on humane compassion, even when they disagreed vehemently in their views of justice. The reason people praised their relationship so much is that it seems, as a people, we are moving further and further away from such a rapport. The Talmud is based on opposing opinions and respect. For 3 centuries (200 CE-500 CE) after the redaction & editing of the Mishna, Amoraim and their students discussed & analyzed the Mishna. Their questions, discussions, & solutions comprise the Talmud.
Judaism, from antiquity to now, is steeped in the teachings and the process of learning in the Talmud. Countless Jews (& lots of law students) are lovingly arguing with each other at this moment, using the Talmud as the catalyst for diving deeper into endless hypothetical scenarios connected to the morality of Jewish law & ritual. But, as a modern Western culture & people, we seem to be moving away from this embrace of respectful conflict, something discussed in the book The Coddling of the American Mind.
In a TED talk R’ Jonathan Sacks speaks on how “it’s the people not like us that make us grow” & shares specific ways we can move from the politics of “me” to the politics of “all of us, together.”
I dive fully into justice & how to find peace this week, with wisdom from the Zohar, Rebbe Nachman, MF Doom, & even a little Bieber. Jump into my latest 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, '𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.' Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/and-justice-for-all/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
-> ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events
Even though it sounds like a contradiction, the reality is that our possessions are only ours to the extent that we give them away.
With this article/dvar titled, "Mo Money Mo Problems, Mo Charity Mo Peace", I dive into the kabbalistic powers of charity, a lesson from the Middle Ages of a Sultan and a great Torah Sage, and share a story of a royal family that ruled a small kingdom (in what is now Iraq), and ultimately converted to Judaism. The son of this period, King Munbaz, became the king of Adiabene at the end of the Second Temple period.
At some point in life, we all learn that money comes and goes; you can be up one day and down the next. It’s all in the hands of Hashem. So the deeper way to conceive of money in our lives is that you only own that which you give away, as it says in Mishlei (Proverbs), “There is one who gives generously yet ends with more.” This means that by focusing on what you can give instead of what you can receive, you actually turn yourself into a vessel for receiving. This is all seen through the power and kabbalah of tzedakah (charity).
In this parashah of Re’eh, we read: "כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן … לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔ מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן. כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ" // "When there will be a poor person amongst you.. do not tighten your heart and do not close up your hand in front of your poor brother. Rather, open your hand to him…"
In last week’s Dvar, we covered the Arizal’s teaching that Creation came about because Hashem has a fundamental desire to give. Therefore, the natural state of being is one in which chesed— the bounteous and unlimited influx of Hashem’s kindness– flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim (judgment). We, nevertheless, find ourselves in a world that is not completely chesed, because part of Hashem’s desire is to give us the opportunity to sweeten judgment (Hamtakat Hadinim) with tzedakah, to transform dinim into chesed ourselves, emulating God in His ability to give to others.
**** Read the full article & dive deeper into this and other lessons in my book “Light of the Infinite” available @ www.lightofinfinite.com
DIVE DEEPER: 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, '𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.' Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/mo-money-mo-problems-mo-charity-mo-peace/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
-> ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th! details @ www.lightofinfinite.com/events
When I was living in Bushwick, NY, my roommate Aaron Wertheimer, an old childhood friend, would always watch Arrested Development. Seeing it in passing, I didn’t fully get the epicness of the show and its humor. When I gave it a real chance, I was hooked. I think it even topped Seinfeld in how beyond brilliant it was. As I write this, so many lines are circling my mind, but one that sticks out is George Bluth, Sr. reassuring his son, Michael Bluth, the main character, that “there’s always money in the banana stand”. When Michael hears this, he interprets it to mean that the banana stand that the family owns will always make money, not realizing why his father kept winking at him while saying this, missing the actual message that there are literally thousands of dollars in cash hidden in the walls of the stand. Michael only realized this after the stand was burned down in a misguided attempt to get insurance reimbursement for it.
Wisdom can come to us in all kinds of ways; even a comedy show can reflect profound teachings. The lesson here is that we have to be careful in assessing where true wealth comes from. We tend to think that money comes to us through cunning. But the Torah comes to teach us that all is in the hands of Hashem (God). All is there for us; it’s just a matter of tapping into this reality and not missing the message or burning it down.
….. If the cash the banana stand brings in from our constant toiling doesn’t add up, we have to remember that beyond our own actions in the stand, is the stand itself, and that is in Hashem’s hands to give and our own hands to truly open our hands in a real and loving way to receive..
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With this article/dvar, titled, "There's Always Money In The Banana Stand", I dive into the kabbalah of wealth with the wisdom of the Zohar, The Arizal, Rebbe Nachman, and Reb Natan of Breslov. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, '𝙴𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.' Get your copy on @Amazon, or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/theres-always-money-in-the-banana-stand/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🪬🤍🕊️
- Erez // @erezsafar
- 🔊 Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
** 📚 BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
-> ISRAEL TOUR SEPT 20 - OCT 10th!
I remember learning the power of the Shema (שְׁמַע) as a little kid. It felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter and someone had clued me into the Patronus charm, so if I put myself into a deep enough spiritual space, I would be able to conjure up protective power. The Shema was a way to channel Hashem’s oneness into this world; I could say it and manifest magic in my own life. It was a pathway from the natural world I was in as a kid to the supernatural world that my kid mind dreamt up.
Growing up as a Yemenite Jew, I learned to form my hand into a shin (שְׁ), the first letter of the Shema, by placing my thumb and pinky together, leaving my index, middle and ring fingers upright. Once I had this formation, I would close my eyes and place my pinky on my left eye and my thumb on my right. As I got to the last word of the Shema, ‘echad’ (אֶחָֽד/’one’), I would bring all the fingers together, forming one unit and a sort of daled (ד), the last letter of ‘echad’. Then I would kiss my fingers and raise them to the heavens. It was a powerful ritual, one of connection and transcendence.
The Shema (שְׁמַע) is the climactic praise, prayer, and mantra that centers us in the morning and evening prayer. It’s been at the center of Judaism and the lives of Jews since Moshe said the words to the Children of Israel in the desert thousands of years ago. It took on new levels of meaning when formal tefillah replaced the sacrifices, after the second Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. It is the climax of the final Neilah prayer on Yom Kippur, and oftentimes it’s a person’s last words on earth.
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I do a deep dive into this concept in "The Secret To Oneness (and the Shema)” chapter where I explore mindfulness, transcendence, and connecting to the Light of the Infinite! Check it out in my latest 'Light of the Infinite' book, 'Emanations of Illumination,' available on @Amazon.
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez // @ErezSafar
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Tisha B’av is the most somber day in the Jewish calendar. It’s sobering to think that thousands of years ago, we were on top of the world: in the Promised Land, with our Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), fully connected to Hashem (God) in a revealed state.
It’s not a coincidence that the first word of the verse in this week's Torah portion, eicha, ‘how?’, is the same word that sets off the Book of Lamentations that we read on Tisha B’av. Jeremiah lamented, “Eicha/How can the city that was so full of people sit alone?”And in the Torah reading for this week, the same word is used: “Eicha/How can I carry your troubles myself?” But this time it’s not Jeremiah asking about the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, it’s Moses asking, knowing that despite his establishing a system of judges and courts, that justice is a difficult thing to uphold absolutely and indefinitely, and it will eventually falter.
Rashi points out that the verse reads, “I cannot carry you” and not what might be more fitting, “I cannot judge you,” which is to imply the weight and burden involved in judging another person fairly. The Sin of the Spies stemmed from their harsh judgment of the Land. They sowed seeds of doubt and disunity by using judgment (gevurah), without balancing it with the proper amount of mercy (chesed), which is required to create harmony (tiferet).
Being judgmental (i.e. acting like a court) is the source of anger, and the lesson of Azamra that is at the core of Breslov teaching is to rectify harsh judgment by finding the “good point” in yourself and others and judging it favorably, bringing merit to yourself and others.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains that the secret of personal redemption is to combine chesed and gevurah in order to attain da’at (ultimate Knowledge/wisdom). Loving-kindness or judgment by itself is incomplete; balance– knowing when to use each trait– is key. Tempering one over the other and the ability to know when to use each characteristic is the essence of da’at.. #LeadwithLove
I do a deep dive into this concept in the “Only God Can Judge Me” chapter in my latest book, 'Light of the Infinite: Emanations of Illumination.'
Read this dvar/article online - https://lightofinfinite.com/only-god-can-judge-me or get your copy on Amazon, or at www.lightofinfinite.com/shop
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
The flip side of sleep and dreams is the one-sixtieth of death, and the flip side of faith is doubt which begins a vicious cycle of anxiety and brings us further from faith and peace. Many have been taught and can certainly feel that Shabbat is one-sixtieth of the World to Come, that is why the world to come is referred to as kulo Shabbat. When we keep Shabbat fully, when we pause on interfering with creation and meditate on creation itself, we can lessen our anxiety, we can tap into oneness, we can doubt less because we can feel and be mindful of that the Source of Creation is in charge, that we can only push ourselves to a point and then let fate free us from our worries. Shabbat is a time in space that we could feel unbound by both time and space because we are fully connected to the infinite, one-sixtieth of infinity to be exact.
I thought I’d end this one with a poem by Rav Kook;
Expanses, expanses
Expanses my soul craves
Do not confine me in any cage,
Neither material nor spiritual,
My soul soars through the heavens,
Walls of the heart will not contain it,
Nor will the walls of deeds, morals, logic or propriety.
Above all these my soul soars and flies,
Above all that can be named,
Above all delight, pleasantness and beauty,
Above all that is exalted and noble.
“I am love sick….” Jump into this week's Torah portion and how we can vanquish fears with this podcast and 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜.”
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
**** the Festival with Keynote speaker, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Sara Esther Crispe, and Yom Tov Glaser (July 11th) Free with RSVP @ www.lightofinite.com
READ THIS IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-levitate-after-every-fall/
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**** watch the video - https://youtu.be/1weTcPVb5lg
The majority of us have the best of intentions, but life sometimes gets in the way. Even when we fully promise and believe that we are going to help a friend out, there are times that, in the end, it doesn’t work out how we had hoped. It’s these promises said with such love and enthusiasm that give us hope and make us feel that we aren’t alone. The flip side is when empty promises leave us feeling misled, helpless, or stranded. People shouldn’t commit to things they don’t actually have time for. Language is powerful. Indeed, as we covered 3 weeks ago in the Torah portion - Chukat, we learn from Hashem (God) that words create worlds. In the beginning, Hashem spoke existence into being. It is the same with each of us, speech is a way to connect and create or to disconnect and destroy.
Thinking about nedarim (vows) in this Torah portion brought to mind a song from my favorite band, The Beastie Boys, dubbed, “Don’t Play No Games That I Can’t Win,” featuring Santigold. The song title came to mind because I was thinking about how often people say that they will do things “bli neder”, in other words, without a strict vow. It’s a way for people to say “I do intend to do this, but without the weight of a vow”. It’s a way to play the game and ensure that you never lose.
The Hebrew letters and their associated numerical value are our mystical link and the code, in a sense, that connects our physical and finite world to the spiritual world that is infinite.
The laws and Kabbalah around speech and the power and meaning behind each word – their roots and permutations and contexts – hold the key to elevating the mundane into the ineffable.
I do a deep dive into the power of words and promises in this week’s Dvar/article - 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, ‘𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜,” &/or at https://lightofinfinite.com/dont-play-no-games-that-i-cant-win
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
**** the Festival with Keynote speaker, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Sara Esther Crispe, and Yom Tov Glaser (July 11th) Free with RSVP @ www.lightofinite.com
READ THIS IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-levitate-after-every-fall/
️
**** watch the video - https://youtu.be/1weTcPVb5lg
There is so much epic wisdom around our falls and our elevation, but it's far too much to post here, so I thought I would share the first & last paragraph of my latest Dvar/article, "How To Levitate After Every Fall."
First paragraph -> There’s one kind of religious thought, which now feels antiquated, that teaches that a person should never fall into sin and that only in the purest state can they reach unification with the Divine and all the blessings that come with it. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was controversial in his time and had many that railed against him because he shined a light on the profound spiritual elevation one can reach because of our fallen moments.
Last paragraph -> One of the central lessons of Likutei Moharan is the Azamra, confronting these dinim, the judgments you fall into, and working to sweeten them with Hashem’s Name, elevating the fallen sparks. This is not something that you learn once or do once and master; it is done over time, as lasting and true change happens layer by layer. As Rebbeinu says, “A little bit is also good. The way to grow is to not worry about perfection — simply start moving a little bit beyond where you were a moment ago.” We are meant to emulate our Creator, who mitigates His judgment and applies mercy as often as He can. It is the only way to continue to get back up when we fall– to show ourselves and each other mercy. And it is this choice of mercy– using the right hand of chesed— that elevates us to the Infinite Light. Confucius must have been in Uman around the time of Rebbe Nachman, as he said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
** Watch this short video on how to elevate after every fall -
**** I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO HOW TO TURN FALLS INTO ELEVATED ELATION, READ IT IN FULL HERE, https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-levitate-after-every-fall/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
- Listen: Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast
**
BOOKS OF LIGHT - https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw
**** the Festival with Keynote speaker, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Sara Esther Crispe, and Yom Tov Glaser (July 11th) Free with RSVP @ www.lightofinite.com
READ THIS IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-levitate-after-every-fall/
️
**** watch the video -
If at every moment you can choose the path that you want to pursue, as the Talmud states, Hashem will help you towards the path of your choosing, then you have to ensure that you're in alignment & on a path of positivity! We shouldn’t ever look at ourselves as fully bad or fully good, cuz that can color how we approach the future & more often than not, in a negative way. If we realize that at any given moment we have the power for bad or the power for good, then we can begin to be present, let go of the weight of our past decisions & choose good, choose positivity in the very moment that we find ourselves in.
Teshuva (return) is powerful, the idea that at the moment a person comes to the realization that they want to align with the light of the Infinite, with a full heart to forge a new path, it's in that heartfelt sincerity that we're born anew in a sense, & our past transgressions between created & Creator are washed away. If only all relationships were as easy. If the ones that we navigate with others coming to a state of peace, in which all past tribulations & misunderstandings were completely stricken from the record of the memories & impact between ourselves & others, the layers of disconnect & discontent would vanish, & we would realize that they're all manifestations of misunderstandings in our state of exile.It’s believed that before birth we make an oath, “Be tzadik, don’t be rasha. This seems superfluous; if we swears to be righteous, why swear to not be wicked? The Alter Rebbe explains it's because not everyone can reach the level of tzadik, so it's imperative to swear that we don’t fall into wickedness. A person makes an oath to overcome their impulse to evil, & this is the constant struggle we experience, caught between 2 choices.
This state of being is the name of the Alter Rebbe's texts titled, The Book of the Inbetweeners. The lesson is: if we all have the power to personify that which unites or that which divides, then always choosing the path of the righteous & not of the other side (Sitra Achra) is the key to revelation. In this parsha, we read a cautionary tale of the path of the Sitra Achra.
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Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
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“The best fighter is never angry.” ― Lao Tzu
The main problem with hitting the rock, which was born from a moment of imperfect faith by Moshe, was that it was an act of force. Moshe’s sin was in the moment of questioning, & the anger seeped in in that one tiny moment. The Maharal teaches: where there is complete faith, there is no room for anger, for there is great joy.
What Korach didn’t understand when he rebelled against Moshe in last week’s parashah was that each person has their own spiritual level. In fact, a true tzaddik has a greater yetzer hara than everyone else, & the consequences of their choices are, therefore, much greater. In this instance, we see that Moshe, who lived his entire life righteously, lost the Promised Land with just one moment of anger. The pressure of keeping up Moshe’s level of piety in every moment is beyond our capacity to comprehend, but what we can learn is that even just one moment of faithlessness for someone on the level of Moshe could block him from his Promised Land. How much more important it is for each of us to try & stay in a space of faith, trust, & joy, so that we don’t bring negativity into our own lives.
Rebbe Nachman’s famous teaching, “Ein shum yeush ba’olam klal!”, which means, “There is no such thing as despair in the world at all!’ It’s a hard thing to put faith into, especially when you feel like everything is horrible & hopeless. But you have to hold onto your faith, & when you see the good that comes from this struggle, then you’ll know why you had to experience it. Life must be lived, lessons must be learned, and, in the end, good often comes from “bad”. The Zohar teaches: “By (the way one handles one’s) anger, one can recognize who one is. If a person guards one’s soul at a moment of anger & does not allow it (one’s soul) to be torn from its place…this is a person who is as they should be…This is a complete person.” ‘Shalom’ means peace, ‘shalem’ means complete, so we are only complete when we are at peace. And peace only comes from mindful joy which never has the space for anger.
** I DID A DEEP DIVE INTO ‘HOW TO NEVER GET ANGRY’ - READ IT IN FULL @ www.lightofinfinite.com/how-to-never-get-angry/
Thanks for reading/listening!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!🤍🕊
- Erez // @erezsafar
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The concept of doing something Lishmah (for its sake) is a key concept in both living in alignment with oneself and living in alignment with our Source. It’s the inner spiritual work, when done with the physical performance of a mitzvah, that sanctifies our outer being.
The Zohar stresses that ahavah (love) and yirah (fear) are the two main ingredients needed for Torah and mitzvot to affect their ultimate purpose.
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev teaches in Kedushat Levi that Korach didn’t think that Torah could assume the trappings of this world. It was at that moment that the earth “opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korach’s people and all their possessions.”
Levi Yitzchok explains that it was as if the earth was saying, “If you are unwilling to sanctify me through your deeds and to purify me through your service, then there is no place for you in this material existence. Man’s task is here on earth, not in heaven. Whoever is unprepared for this will return to his spiritual source. Let him not waste his time here.”
Rebbe Nachman teaches, “When judgments are secondary to kindness, suffering can be avoided. Suffering comes from the power of the yetzer hara (evil inclination), which is another source of judgment. Sin causes arousal of judgments, while serving God causes arousal of kindness… a person must create unity and peace between opposing sides. That is what mitigates Divine decrees.
The lesson, especially in times like these, is that pointing fingers and blaming others, feeling as though airing a grievance while hoping for a self-serving resolution, only creates more division, hate, and unrest. It is only by taking what feels divided and bringing it together that harmony can be achieved. Our task is to bring Godly awareness into physicality and, by doing that, every element and person is elevated.
The tzaddikim are tapped into levels of spiritual reality and Divine consciousness that most of us could only hope for; which is why in Pirkei Avot it says, “Make for yourself a Rav (a teacher); acquire for yourself a friend; and judge every person on the positive side.” Because no one is meant to be alone, and no one should think they have all the answers. A teacher will show you otherwise, and a friend will hold you accountable for the times you may feel haughty. Judging others and yourself favorably is the only way to not let the fallen sparks and division create further disunity. Redemption is harmony, a feeling of spiritual alignment, while rebellion, when not for the sake of Heaven, will leave the person lost, out of alignment, and maybe even feeling as if they have been swallowed up by the earth.
I pray that we can begin to eliminate doubt and division and usher in the expansion of an ever-broadening spiritual reality and the Moshiach, speedily in our days!
** READ THIS ARTICLE/DVAR IN FULL @ www.lightofinfinite.com/revolt-vs-redemption
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Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
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As Big Sean raps on Justin Bieber’s album, “Believe”, “the grass ain’t always greener on the other side. It’s green where you water it.”
It’s like this with anything— our relationship with our partner, with life, & just the same or even more so with our Source, the Light of Infinite. We need to open our eyes & align with the present & have that presence manifest concretely. The verses below contain so much wisdom on how to open our eyes, through tzitzit, and how to elevate oneself to Divine consciousness.
"Speak to the Israelites & have them make tassels on the corners of their garments for all generations…."
We're commanded to perform the ritual of tzitzit: to see them, and, in seeing, to remember Hashem’s commandments and, in seeing & remembering, to keep them. It’s their being “in sight” that reminds us & brings us to action.
Judaism is a religion that’s built on action. Love without loving actions grows stale & often leads to a distancing from what once felt unbreakable. Our faith is tied with action because action is giving of oneself, & it is through the mitzvot & other Jewish rituals that attachment, clarity, unification & love manifest themselves.
We have 613 mitzvot. The word tzitzit has the numerical value of 600, & the tzitzit themselves have eight strings & five knots, totalling 613. So, the mitzvot that we are commanded to remember & to follow are contained in the tzitzit. As it’s written, “And you shall see it & remember all the commandments of God.”
All of the Torah’s commandments are meant to take physicality & elevate it to spiritualize “reality”. It's only when we act with the intent to unify ourselves with Divine consciousness that we can unify the animal & Godly souls within ourselves. The tzitzit are said to gather the exiles toward redemption, which is why we gather their four corners into one hand prior to reciting the Shema, which of course includes this very paragraph on tzitzit from our Parsha. Mitzrayim (Egypt) reflects Meitzar (constriction), which is the definition of exile– spiritual narrowness & constriction.
Thanks for listening/reading!
Much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez // @erezsafar
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This week with Jim Morrision & Annie Hall, & of course Rebbe Nachman, Rashi, & The Rebbe.
It seems that in almost every moment of our lives we are caught between two choices: the easier or more selfish choice & something a bit harder, a selfless choice. Sometimes safek blurs the lines between the two, but often, if we tap into emunah & our gut, we know which is the one for us. Every action affects every other action. The fact that it takes so long to break a habit shows that every single action has ramifications beyond it. That’s why it says in Pirkei Avot, the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, because if doing good begets doing good, one can take action to stay in perpetual goodness, or God forbid, struggle steeped in the opposite.
The story of Yakov & Esav puts one side far to one corner & the other far to the other, but since one represents the yetzer tov (good and spirituality) & the other the yetzer hara (evil and materialism), & because both exist within us, it makes it that much tougher to see them clearly. Even with Yitzchak, their father, we see that he wanted to give the blessings to Esav, because when something is so close to you, it’s hard to see it clearly.
Even in my own life, I struggle to decipher what is best at any moment. Do I continue to learn Torah, exist in the space of spirituality, & write insights/dvars? Or do I put some more of my time into materialism, & work, since that is a reality of the physical world we exist in? Do I say yes to everything someone asks of me, or do I set a boundary so I can help as much as I can, but not at the expense of things I need to take care of for myself/my kids? Do I take more time to heal a broken heart, or jump back into risking a break once again?
There’s a Native American parable, Tsalagi Tale, that teaches that everyone has two wolves within us - a good & a bad wolf. The question is which wolf is stronger.. & the answer is, the one that we feed.
Get your copy of the book: 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we start reading in less than two weeks!! - - https://amzn.to/3ShxLvn * Save the date: Dec 7th will be the next global Light of Infinite Festival & the release of book # 2 (The Exodus of Darkness)!
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Thanks for listening - much love & Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez
The Future Is Female The Talmud teaches that “In the merit of righteous women, our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt”. Redemption is intrinsically related to women, malchut (sovereignty), and the Divine feminine dimension.
God’s Infinite Light originates at a level that is beyond this world, physically inaccessible to us, but it is filtered down through the Sefirot until it reaches the Malchut (sovereignty), out of which it shines onto us in our finite world.
Infused in our tefilot (prayers) is the concept of moshiach and the final redemption, and redemption is intrinsically related to women. Kabbalistically, the sefirah of malchut renews all of existence and reflects the feminine dimension. We are now in exile, so malchut is in a state of descent and does not receive direct influence from the other sefirot. One can look at it like a woman in a state of separation from her husband. But in the redemptive state, the highest source of malchut reveals itself and the bonds between the various sefirot are reestablished, manifesting the Infinite Light.
As we covered previously, the actions of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs are prophetic indicators of what is to come for future generations. The Arizal explains that the future redemption will follow the pattern of our redemption and Exodus from Egypt. In the prophecy of Micah, alluding to the final redemption, it is written, “As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show you wonders.” And since our ultimate and final redemption will, in some ways, be a reincarnation of the redemptive state from Egypt, it just the same will be by the merit of the righteous women of our generation, the generation of Mashiach.
King Solomon in Kohelet writes, “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found”. Rabbeinu Bachya comments that Solomon was referring to the Golden Calf and that among all those who sinned there was not one woman. Yet women played a major role in contributing to and helping to build the Mishkan, even though they had no sin to atone for. Chazal state, “Hashem gave women greater understanding than He gave men.” This is seen in their righteousness in being first to contribute to the Mishkan, despite their not needing to atone for the Golden Calf. Solomon states in Mishlei, “The wisdom of women builds her house”. The Mishkan is the home that we are tasked to build as a dwelling place for the revelation of the concealed. We must all learn from women how to build a temple of generosity within and around us.
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Save the date: Dec 7th will be the next global Light of Infinite Festival & the release of book # 2 (The Exodus of Darkness)!* & OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-future-is-female/ ️
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The more I get real with new people that I meet, the more I hear about the variety of struggles that seem to hit us all at various times. It makes us realize how each of us are our own complex universes & each universe is affected by the other. It’s why spreading joy and light is such an important part of life, as each person has the ability to ignite the other person’s light and positive outlook, or God forbid, diminish it.
There are two acts that we actually complete for Hashem/God. Giving to the poor - Hashem’s love for the poor is evidenced by their Temple sacrifices being valued just as much, no matter how small they may be. So, you might ask why the poor are not taken care of in this world if Hashem loves them in this way. The reason is that it is our job to partner with Hashem & fulfill the mitzvah of making sure they are taken care of. It’s similar with the brit milah: one can ask, if it is a sign of our covenant with Hashem, then why would we not be born with it? The answer is because it's our job to take a physical action & create the covenant, a partnership literally seen on the body, that we have taken part in and take personal action towards. And so to take this covenant to spread joy & light, it is important that one’s tzedaka/charity manifests in more ways than just money.
The power of tzedaka is that you literally give life to someone: they go from a lowly state of hopelessness and darkness to a state of feeling life & hope and light again. There is an adage, If you see that your livelihood is limited, then give tzedaka. It applies to lack in general– if you feel like you aren’t receiving, focus on giving, and that will open up the gates for receiving. Our work is to break our hesitancy toward bringing people in. Even if not seen by oneself as cruelty, it’s born of cruelty, & it's something every person has to break through to get towards compassion. This is so even in the case of someone who is generous of heart & does give charity, as R' Kenig says – “Everyone has a place where they say to themselves, ‘until here and no more’ – this point of “cruelty” is what each of us must exert ourselves to break.
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Much love & Shabbat Shalom!- Erez Safar
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GO INWARD - This Shabbat is the yahrzeit of my mom (Frida Levona bat Shalom), so with her neshamat aliyah in mind, I wanted to share some thoughts on this week’s parashah.
Most of us find it challenging to truly go inward. With life’s endless stream of distractions, our desire to be loved and to fit in keep us focused outward. Avraham discovered the Truth by searching what it meant to be his true self and the responsibilities that come with being one’s true self, while those around him had fallen to worshipping desires and false idols. As we see from this Parashah, sometimes to go further in, you have to go further out.
This week in the Torah is the first time Hashem mentions blessings explicitly, right after telling Avraham to go to the land that Hashem will show him, but without telling him which land it is. The Zohar explains that Avraham evaluated the spiritual nature of each land that he passed through, until he reached Israel, where he was able to experience Divine Providence directly. By not knowing which land to go to immediately, Avraham had to discover for himself which land Hashem meant, thereby building up his desire for the Holy Land. When we are tested, our knowledge of what we must do is constricted and hidden from us, and only through our desire to do good, focused on our connection with God, do we find the right path to follow. The answers are in the truest path – the path connected to the ultimate connection, the Creator.
Avraham is commanded to separate himself even further, not only spiritually, but also physically. Hashem commands Avraham Lech-Lecha: “go from where you came from and go to where you should be, your Promised Land.” But translated literally, the phrase means, “Go to yourself”, as in go and reach your promised land within.
The Talmud says "A change of place, a change of luck.” So, on a personal level, it’s often good to get out of the space you’re in physically in order to get out of the difficult space you’re in mentally. In the Biblical narrative, Avraham needs to reach the Promised Land so that we all can reach it and receive the blessings that are contained through this journey.
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As you may know, this week is the famous story of Noach and the flood. The entire generation had fallen to the sitra achra (the other side), and Hashem calls Noach righteous and perfect. Noach built an ark and rain fell for 40 days. Hundreds of days later, after a dove was sent out and returned with an olive branch in its mouth, Noach knew redemption had come and it was time to fully move forward. This story represents something that everyone faces at one point or another in their lives. How much each of us has to become the hero in our own story, building our own ark, filling ourselves with hope and reaching redemption. It's up to each of us to strengthen ourselves continually to do so.
It says in Talmud Sanhedrin, “the World Was Created for Me,” and Rambam teaches that we are to see every one of our actions impacting on ourselves, our communities, and the world at large. We see this clearly with Noach– had he not been righteous, we would have no world at all. It was his very actions and those of his family, and how he chose, despite everyone else in his generation, to walk with God, that saved creation.
There is a famous Mishnah in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) that reads, “.. in a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.” This is what I take away from the lesson of Noach, whether he was the most righteous in his generation but would not have been in another generation, or he is the most righteous in any generation, I don’t think the distinction is as important as the lesson. From Pirkei Avot we see the importance of rising above your circumstances to act, inspire, and become the most righteous you can be. It is that act that, as we see, will save you from a flood, not only you, but the future of the world. Because the world was created just for you.
Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez
*** Get your copy of the book 'LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT' now available as Prime on Amazon! The second half of the book parallels the Parshiot (weekly Torah reading) of Bereishit/Genesis, which we start reading in less than two weeks!!
- - https://amzn.to/3ShxLvn
BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/found-a-world-so-new/🤍🕊
This parashah/Torah Portion of Bereishit/Genesis, especially the first aliyah, contains almost all of the mind-blowing kabbalistic concepts of the Light of Infinite in it. When Hashem said, Let There Be Light…. And It Was Good, it clues us into the purpose of Creation– to reveal light and goodness in this world.
King David says in Tehillim/Psalms, “The world was built with chesed (loving-kindness).” Our sages teach that “The light that was created on the first day shone from one end of Creation to the other.” In Kabbalah we learn that this was the light of chesed— “an infinite, uncompounded light that filled all of Creation.” The light of Chesed is at the heart of everything. Chesed and giving are at the root of creation and at the root of joy. Spreading light is done by giving joyfully, just as when light from your own flame is shared with another flame, your flame doesn’t become smaller, only the other person’s flame is now ignited.
I can’t help but hear @JohnMayer singing, “just keep me where the light is,” a reminder that we all share this desire to give and receive love and light. The secret to life is rooted in giving– giving to yourself what you may need– love of yourself, belief in yourself– and giving to others, which creates love and community, something every person needs to feel alive. The root of the Hebrew word for love, (the very thing that emanates from the heart) is אהבה/‘ahava’, is the word ‘hav’, which means ‘to give’. Real love is something you only receive through giving love. As Snoop Lion sings on the opening of his album, Reincarnated, “the only way to get love is to give love.”
We see this through the Hebrew language and its numerical value. Blessings come from love and Ahava (the Hebrew word for ‘love’)
Ahava has the same gematria (numerical value), 13, as the word Echad (‘one’). As many of us know, 26 is the numerical value of Hashem’s four-letter name (the Tetragrammaton), the ultimate Divine Infinite Light. So, if we share our love and our oneness— 13 + 13— then we manifest that Divine Light.
If we look at the world or even oneself like a sun and the light of the sun as Hashem, then we can see that even if the sun’s rays are found within the body of the sun, or ourselves, the rays can’t be said to “exist” there, as they are in a “nonexistent” state as they are one and do not have a separate identity. The same way that the sun rays within the sun-globe are nullified, since nothing but the sun itself can exist within itself, we see this Hashem, the tzimtzum (the constriction of light) has limited our view of Hashem’s light in this world, but that is through the hiddenness of physicality and materialism. In a true sense, there is only Hashem. We are all light, we all have Hashem within us. We generally can’t see it within ourselves or even in the world, as it is all light, so in that sense it seems to not even exist, but if we bestow our light unto another, then we can see the beams of light from within us, around us, and mirrored back to us. That is when we see light, that is when light is revealed. As we see from the first verses in this Parashah, light is good, and good is only good when given. So to reveal light, we have to share light and that is how we manifest good and light in this world, that is how we are able to take it from a seemingly “nonexistent” state to something revealed.
There's a song on an album I used to listen to called Life of Pablo, and the chorus is very moving, it goes:
We on an ultralight beam
We on an ultralight beam
This is a God dream
This is a God dream
This is everything
Everything
We certainly can’t see the ultralight beam or the God dream in its revealed state, but if we have emunah (faith) and bitachon (trust) in both of those as truth, this, that thought is everything, and the Torah is where we can reveal the secrets (neelam) in this world (olam).
You can read part of this Dvar/article in the Jewish Journal &
READ IT IN FULL @ www.lightofinfinite.com
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Much love, Erez Safar
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It is only by finding one’s purpose and living in alignment that we find our true happiness. For this week, I dove into my middle name which is the same as the mountain Moshe ascended and I touched on some of the secrets of creation, and a bit about what I learned the other week at a Brittany Howard concert!
Creation involves concealment. The word olam, universe, is semantically linked to the word neelam, “hidden”. To give mankind some of His own creative powers – the use of language to think, communicate, understand, imagine alternative futures and choose between them – God must do more than create homo sapiens. He must efface Himself (what the kabbalists called tzimtzum) to create space for human action. No single act more profoundly indicates the love and generosity implicit in creation. God as we encounter Him in the Torah is like a parent who knows He must hold back, let go, refrain from intervening, if his children are to become responsible and mature.
I went to the Hollywood Bowl one weekend to see one of my fav artists, the brilliant Brittany Howard. As she started to close her set, the band started playing in a free jazz style and she commanded her voice in a speaking orator style, sounding almost like Rev Martin Luther King jr. as she proclaimed:
"I promise to think before I speak
To be wary of who I give my energy to
Because it is needed for a greater cause
Greater than my own pride
And that cause is to spread the enlightenment"
And that is what it is all about – the lesson is to spiritualize reality and never become that which is not God. Because it and we are needed for a greater cause, greater than our own pride and physicality, and that cause is to spread enlightenment, to those who are not touched by its light. We need to realize we are all made in the image of God and all have a piece of his infinite light in us. We are all brothers and sisters.
We need to tap into the energy and the mission of Moshe, which was advocating for us at any cost and spreading the Light of the Infinite – revealing the concealed truth in a hidden world, in order to bring the full redemption where all is truth, all is revealed good and peace, and blessings are fully realized.
As we say at the end of reading this book of Devarim and indeed the final chapter in the the five books of the Torah, Chazak Chazak V’nitzchazek-- Be Strong, Be Strong, Let Us Be Strengthened.
Much love, Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
- Erez
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& OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/and-never-become-that-which-is-not-god/
For this week's article/dvar, leading up to Yom Kippur - I wrote about the secrets to being in harmony with each other and the world, bringing in wisdom by Pharrell, Rebbe Nachman, David Sacks and the Ramban.
Meanwhile, Yom Kippur last year marked the last day I was to say Kaddish for my mom who passed away almost two years ago. In some ways, it was a relief to not have to say it. As her only son, having this sole responsibility weighs heavy, but, at the same time, it makes the ritual that much more meaningful, and so the connection, born of the ultimate need, is one that is very transformative.
As I have said Kaddish leading up to this week, it always ends in the same way, just as the Shemona Esrei ends, Oseh Shalom Bimromav (“He who makes peace in His high places”). This year I was thinking about those words more than ever, discovering how Shalom (peace) is where blessings exist. @RabbiSacks shared a powerful moment when someone asked Rabbi Shmuel Salant, a rabbi who spent a lot of time resolving family disputes, how he would make peace in conflicts between people. Rabbi Salant looked at the person and asked him, “What do you do when you say the words ‘Oseh Shalom’?” The person replied, “I take three steps back.” Rabbi Salant said, “That!” and went on, “is how peace is made. Each party has to take three steps backward.” To make peace we must compromise, we have to sacrifice some of what we want for the sake of what someone else wants. Without the ability to take steps back, the ability for peace is paused.
I go into a lot of epic wisdom by a lot of my favorite humans in this week's article/dvar, soplease be sure to read it in full @ lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-being-in-harmony/
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The Rashbam says the entire book of Devarim is called שירה, “Song,” We see this week that Torah is synonymous with Song. For this week, I wrote about how a song saved my life.
Music has been such an important healing tool for me over the years. Feeling good comes in waves, so if you hit a funk, it’s important to have ways to get yourself out. For some it’s being in nature, seeing the grand grace and epic beauty of creation, for others it’s exercising, and for others it’s staying connected to loved ones. For me, staying happy and connected is certainly tied to maintaining a daily spiritual practice, but also an important and key part is music. Music transcends current moods and creates universes to jump into; it’s a powerful way to shift perspective and feelings. @BonIver‘s self-titled album does it for me every time– if I ever feel down and I listen to it, I feel that darkness can’t coexist with the light and beauty that those songs exude, and it snaps me out of it. Of course, on an even more connected level are the songs from Jewish singers that blend our rich tradition into their own styles (@IshayRibo_official, @Eviatar.Banai, @Akiva.official, Erez Yechial etc.)
Song is at the center of all our rituals, and singing is the unifying element of communal prayer. King David used a harp to compose the Psalms. The Talmud teaches that the harp hung above King David’s bed, and at midnight a northern ruach (wind) would blow on the five strings, raising him from his sleep to study Torah until day break. The Zohar teaches that the five strings parallel the five books of Torah and are the instruments with which he composed much of Tehillim….
When you listen to music, you can feel some of what the artist is feeling when he sings. In the Talmud it teaches, “Words that emanate from the heart – enter the heart.” Kabbalists explain that music helps banish extraneous thoughts and clear the mind, cutting away impure thoughts that envelop the soul, allowing a person to connect to the Light of the Infinite. Music is also something that can be played in circles infinitely, in fact that is often how the prophets would reach their state of nevuah. It would be a repetitive riff being played until the riff would act as a mantra, a meditation, and prophecy would be reached.
***here are the last few paragraphs from the Dvar:
I spent the last few days in the woods for Rosh Hashana with the Ostrova Biala Rebbe. It’s hard to put into words what it feels like to sing and pray surrounded by people you love as the Rebbe sings the songs of redemption that usher us into the new year. There is always a moment that is above all the surrounding moments when all feels aligned and it all sort of makes sense. This moment for me came earlier today when we sang Avinu Malkeinu/Our Father, Our King, hearing the Rebbe lead, as we all joined in with an ineffable feeling; I just felt connected and exalted.
There’s a story from Ta’anit: once, during a drought, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva prayed for rain. First R’ Eliezer stood before the ark and recited twenty-four blessings for fast days, but his prayers went unanswered. And so R’ Akiva rushed to the bimah and cried out “Avinu Malkeinu...” (“Our Father, our King, we have no king but You”) And immediately, the rain fell, ending the devastating drought. The Sages of the time suspected that it must be because R' Akiva is greater than R' Eliezer, but a Heavenly Voice was heard proclaiming, “The prayer of this man, R' Akiva, was answered not because he is greater than the other man, but because he is always forbearing and the other is not. The lesson here isn’t that a prayer is answered based on the greatness of the person, but on patience and the heartfelt nature of its offering. R' Akiva pleaded with Hashem, reminding Him that He is our Father and our King, but in pleading with Hashem as our Father first, R’ Akiva was asking that Hashem lead with the love of a parent before that of a king, and that is how we are to approach our davening.
Singing “Avinu Malkeinu,” in the woods, with the Rebbe leading it, I felt truth and oneness, and I could hear through the singing that was in sync with mine that everyone around me felt the same.
Shana Tova Umetukah!
-- DIVE FULLY IN & READ FULL ARTICLE/DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-song-that-saved-my-life/
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Much love, Erez Safar
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As we touched on in parashat Ki Teitzei, another way to think about our collective Oneness is through water. We know that water is fundamental to all life; our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. That means we have 73% in common with every person in the world. Which gives new meaning to the saying, “the grass is greener where you water it”. On top of that, people mirror each other’s inner belief systems, so if we aren’t “watering” ourselves and those around us in connectedness and positivity, then individually and collectively we can’t grow.
Continually giving yourself and others life-force is essential to being in a blissful and connected state. It takes work, because on the other end of it is being unhappy, which is a vicious cycle and can lead to worry, anxiety, anger, depression. Anger is toxic to your body and soul, often triggering one’s ‘fight or flight’ response, which floods the body with stress hormones, health issues and digestive problems. The cure for all this is easier said than done, but it begins with a healthy perspective, with trust and faith that all is for the good and that everything will work out. This is part of the grass being greener where you water it.
In life there will always be two ways to look at everything coming your way, as a blessing or as a curse. The Torah last week and this week articulates this to a great degree. Showing time and again that it is ultimately up to us if we focus and manifest good and blessings, or if we bring about the opposite. So if our heads are filled with something negative, we need to remove the negativity, and replace it with the positive.
** GET YOUR COPY OF MY FIRST BOOK AT AMAZON PRIME - “LIGHT OF THE INFINITE: THE GENESIS OF LIGHT”, click https://bit.ly/3B3FOGi
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I was asked to write for the Jewish Journal's "Table for Five: Rosh Hashanah Edition." They chose 5 writers/teachers/rabbi's to write 250 words about the following verses:
Behold, I stand here, impoverished in good deeds, perturbed and frightened in fear [of Him,] Who is enthroned upon the praises of Yisrael. I have come to stand and to plead before You in behalf of Your people, Yisrael, who have appointed me their messenger, even though I am not worthy or qualified for the task.
- Hineni, From The Rosh Hashanah prayers
Here's what'll hit newsstands on Thursday:
When Leonard Cohen released what he knew would be his last album, he titled the song to begin his parting opus, “You Want It Darker.” On it, he sings “Hineni, hineni, I'm ready, my Lord.” Rosh Hashanah is a moment in time where we all stand as Leonard Cohen once did – knowing it is time, we too stand as creations before our Creator, unsure as to our fate based on a string of moments where we may have felt faithless. Just as we admit to God in the Hineni prayer how we are “impoverished in good deeds, perturbed and frightened in fear,” Cohen sings, “There's a lover in the story, But the story's still the same, There's a lullaby for suffering, And a paradox to blame, But it's written in the scriptures.” We all stand in life just like this – a lover in life, caught in a paradox, seemingly set in the scene to fail. But it is Rosh Hashanah, a powerful time of teshuvah. All we have to do is remember that everything is in the Divine’s hands. We are meant to spiritualize material reality through this process of teshuva or returning, which is re-turning, to once again turn towards our innermost selves and the One who made us. As we read many times in Torah, “Whoever is generous of heart shall bring the offering of Hashem.” This is the time more than any other that we stand before our Creator, with a full heart and a desire to return and align with the Light of the infinite. It is this heartfelt prayer that mirrors the offerings we once brought in the Holy Temples that redeem us all. As our Sages taught, “God desires the heart.”
- Erez Safar
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First fruits, blessings and our Promised Land. I dive into it all via The Rebbe, Jay-Z, Mark Twain, The Arizal and a memory of my Savta from Addis Ababa and Yemen in this week’s Parashah, Ki Tavo!
Here are a few paragraphs from the dvar;
The first fruits only became required once we entered, conquered, allocated and settled the Land. So the mitzvah was not a thanksgiving of the gift of the land by Hashem, but is contingent on our settling the land as a permanent home. Only then can we rejoice with peace of mind, and when we are at peace, blessings reveal themselves.
The same way we need to conquer and settle the physical promised land, we need to do that in our own struggle within spiritual selves, making sure that we don’t doubt ourselves to the point of blocking our own blessings.
As Jay-Z says on Welcome to the Jungle:
Where did I go?
I’m losing myself,
I’m stuck in the moment
I look in the mirror,
my only opponent.
Our own promised lands are in our own control. Sometimes it feels like it takes a miracle before we would see it or feel at ease and unified to the point that it would manifest as a feeling of peace or enlightenment, but we have to enter into the process within ourselves, conquer our own doubts and parts of us that act as enemies towards our own selves. When we can settle ourselves to a space of peace, then we can reach a feeling of our own Promised Land.
** Audio/Podcast version - https://lightofinfinite.com/podcast/
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& OF COURSE, BE SURE TO READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @
https://lightofinfinite.com/first-fruit/
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In this week's parashah we learn how to not perpetuate hatred, bringing in wisdom by Rav Kook, Rebbe Nachman, Dr. David Hawkins, MLK, and more. See below for the last two paragraphs from the dvar/article or go to lightofinfinite.com to read in full!
Another way to think about our collective Oneness is through water. We know that water is fundamental to all life; our bodies are mostly water, and the brain and heart, in particular, are composed of 73% water. That means we have 73% in common with every person in the world. Which gives new meaning to the saying “the grass is greener where you water it”. On top of that, people mirror each other’s inner belief system, so if we aren’t “watering” ourselves and those around us in connectedness and positivity, then individually and collectively we can’t grow. Hawkins says, “we are all psychically connected. The internal position we hold about another person is forcing them to adopt a complementary defensive position. It is therefore not Pollyannaish to forgive and forget, but a reasonable recognition of emotional realities.
And so we learn from the pasuk (verse) about how to deal with hatred in this week's that we cannot make healthy decisions if they are from a space of anger or hatred. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us so eloquently, “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” These dvars are all part of the Light of the Infinite book series. The idea is that only through light and love can one tap into Oneness and be connected to the light of the Divine source (known as Ein Sof “the Infinite”). And so I pray that we break free from the constrictions of finitude and the darkness that conceals the infinite light and come to a place of revelation, redemption, and everlasting Oneness.
.... READ THE FULL ARTICLE/DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/dont-hate-foster-the-people/
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So much anxiety is brought on by thinking one won’t receive what is just. Of course, everyone’s view of their own justice looks different. But the idea of not receiving what you think you deserve, whether from a person or the universe creates a division and distancing in one’s relationships to others, to oneself, and even to life itself.
Justice brings peace, but only when judgment (gevurah) is balanced with the proper amount of mercy (chesed). When this is done right, it creates harmony (tiferet).
Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s last book is titled, Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life’s Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union, aptly pulling the words from this week’s parashah of Shoftim, which is Hebrew for ‘judges’. One lesson to be learned from Ginsberg through her relationship with her colleague on the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, is how they exemplified putting aside their egos, building a personal relationship based on humane compassion, even when they disagreed vehemently in their views of justice.
The reason people praised their relationship so much is that it seems, as a people, we are moving further and further away from such a rapport. The Talmud (the elaborate explanation and commentary of the Mishnah), is based on opposing opinions and respect. For three centuries (c. 200 CE-500 CE) after the redaction and editing of the Mishna, later Sages, called Amoraim, and their students discussed and analyzed the Mishna. Their questions, discussions, and solutions comprise the Talmud.
If you look at a page of the Talmud, on either side of the ancient arguments of the Amoraim, you find more opposing views, those of the Medieval commentators– Rashi on the right and Tosafos on the left. Judaism, from antiquity to now, is steeped in the teachings and the process of learning in the Talmud. Literally thousands and thousands of Jews (and lots of law students) are lovingly arguing with each other at this moment, using the Talmud as the catalyst for diving deeper into endless hypothetical scenarios connected to the morality of Jewish law and ritual. But, as a modern Western culture and people, we seem to be moving away from this embrace of respectful conflict, something discussed in the book The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure.
In a TED talk Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks speaks on ‘How we can face the future without fear, together’. He begins by saying, “We’ve seen divisive elections, divided societies and the growth of extremism — all fueled by anxiety and uncertainty. Is there something we can do, each of us, to be able to face the future without fear?” He goes on to say that “it’s the people not like us that make us grow” and shares three specific ways we can move from the politics of “me” to the politics of “all of us, together.”
I dive fully into justice and how to find peace in this week's dvar/article with wisdom from the Zohar, Rebbe Nachman, MF Doom, and even a little Bieber.
Czech it now @ https://lightofinfinite.com/and-justice-for-all/
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With this article/dvar titled, "Mo Money Mo Problems, Mo Charity Mo Peace", I dive into the kabbalistic powers of charity, a lesson from the Middle Ages of a Sultan and a great Torah Sage, and share a story of a royal family that ruled a small kingdom (in what is now Iraq), and ultimately converted to Judaism. The son of this period, King Munbaz, became the king of Adiabene at the end of the Second Temple period.
At some point in life, we all learn that money comes and goes; you can be up one day and down the next. It’s all in the hands of Hashem. So the deeper way to conceive of money in our lives is that you only own that which you give away, as it says in Mishlei (Proverbs), “There is one who gives generously yet ends with more.” This means that by focusing on what you can give instead of what you can receive, you actually turn yourself into a vessel for receiving. This is all seen through the power and kabbalah of tzedakah (charity).
In this parashah of Re’eh, we read: "כִּֽי־יִהְיֶה֩ בְךָ֨ אֶבְי֜וֹן … לֹ֧א תְאַמֵּ֣ץ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֗ וְלֹ֤א תִקְפֹּץ֙ אֶת־יָ֣דְךָ֔ מֵאָחִ֖יךָ הָאֶבְיֽוֹן. כִּֽי־פָתֹ֧חַ תִּפְתַּ֛ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֖ ל֑וֹ" // "When there will be a poor person amongst you.. do not tighten your heart and do not close up your hand in front of your poor brother. Rather, open your hand to him…"
In last week’s Dvar, we covered the Arizal’s teaching that Creation came about because Hashem has a fundamental desire to give. Therefore, the natural state of being is one in which chesed— the bounteous and unlimited influx of Hashem’s kindness– flows freely into the world, unhampered by either sin or dinim (judgment). We, nevertheless, find ourselves in a world that is not completely chesed, because part of Hashem’s desire is to give us the opportunity to sweeten judgment (Hamtakat Hadinim) with tzedakah, to transform dinim into chesed ourselves, emulating God in His ability to give to others.
**** Read the full article & dive deeper into this and other lessons in my book “Light of the Infinite” available @ https://lightofinfinite.com/mo-money-mo-problems-mo-charity-mo-peace/
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Despite the title being a wink to my favorite show, Arrested Development, this Dvar/article is my most personal one yet. I hope you can relate and connect with it.
When I was living in Bushwick, NY, my roommate Aaron Wertheimer, an old childhood friend, would watch Arrested Development. Seeing it in passing, I didn’t fully get the epicness of the show and its character development. When I gave it a real chance, I was hooked, thinking it even topped Seinfeld on how beyond brilliant it was. So much so that from that point on we only referred to each other as ‘hermano.’ As I write this, so many lines are circling my mind, but one that sticks out is George Bluth Sr. reassuring his son, Michael Bluth, that “there’s always money in the family banana stand”. When Michael hears this, he interprets it to mean that the banana stand that the family owns will always make money, not realizing why his father kept winking at him as he says it, and completely missing the actual message that there is always cash hidden in the walls of the stand. Michael only realized this after the stand was burned down in a misguided attempt to get insurance reimbursement for it.
Wisdom can come to us in all kinds of ways; even a comedy show can reflect profound teachings. The lesson here is that we have to be careful in assessing where true wealth comes from. We tend to think that money comes to us through cunning. But the Torah comes to teach us that all is in the hand of Hashem, and all is there for us, it’s a matter of tapping into this reality and not moving away from it or burning it down.
….. If the cash the banana stand brings in from our constant toiling doesn’t add up, we have to remember that beyond our own actions in the stand, is the stand itself, and that is in Hashem’s hands to give and our own hands to truly open our hands in a real and loving way to receive.
With this article/dvar, titled, "There's Always Money In The Banana Stand", I dive into the kabbalah of wealth with the wisdom of the Zohar, The Arizal, Rebbe Nachman, Reb Natan of Breslov, and an incredible story of The Alter Rebbe!
READ THE FULL ARTICLE/DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/theres-always-money-in-the-banana-stand/**🤍🕊
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I remember learning the power of the Shema (שְׁמַע) as a little kid. It felt like I was in the world of Harry Potter and someone had clued me into the Patronus charm, so if I put myself into a deep enough spiritual space, I would be able to conjure up protective power. The Shema was a way to channel Hashem’s oneness into this world; I could say it and manifest magic in my own life. It was a pathway from the natural world I was in as a kid to the supernatural world that my kid mind dreamt up.
Growing up as a Yemenite Jew, I learned to form my hand into a shin (שְׁ), the first letter of the Shema, by placing my thumb and pinky together, leaving my index, middle and ring fingers upright. Once I had this formation, I would close my eyes and place my pinky on my left eye and my thumb on my right. As I got to the last word of the Shema, ‘echad’ (אֶחָֽד/’one’), I would bring all the fingers together, forming one unit and a sort of daled (ד), the last letter of ‘echad’. Then I would kiss my fingers and raise them to the heavens. It was a powerful ritual, one of connection and transcendence.
The Shema (שְׁמַע) is the climactic praise, prayer, and mantra that centers us in the morning and evening prayer. It’s been at the center of Judaism and the lives of Jews since Moshe said the words to the Children of Israel in the desert thousands of years ago. It took on new levels of meaning when formal tefillah replaced the sacrifices, after the second Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. It is the climax of the final Neilah prayer on Yom Kippur, and oftentimes it’s a person’s last words on earth.
Dive deep into this week’s Dvar/article titled “The Secret To Oneness (and the Shema)” where I explore mindfullness, trancendance and connecting to the Light of the Infinite!
- https://lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-oneness-and-the-shema/
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Tisha B’av is the most somber day in the Jewish calendar. It’s sobering to think that thousands of years ago, we were on top of the world: in the Promised Land, with our Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple), fully connected to the Divine. & then how quickly– in just three weeks– that connection was destroyed. When you really consider a loss like that, no matter how ephemeral it may be in the bigger picture, its weight can feel unbearable.
The generation that left Egypt & wandered through the desert are referred to as dor hamidbar. They were a generation of dor dei’ah – “a generation of knowledge,” which paralleled Moshe who perceived Godliness. The generation that entered into Eretz Yisrael, however, were not on the same level of perceiving Godliness, because they were involved in mundane realities. Dor hamidbar “saw” at Mt Sinai, whereas the new generation only “heard,” as it’s written, “Now, Israel, listen..”
As they say, “seeing is believing,” because when one sees something with their own eyes, their doubts dissipate, whereas when one hears, they may believe in that moment, but when the moment has passed & anyone questions the moment or experience, often times belief dissipates, sometimes even altogether. The Rebbe explains that when Devarim, the repetition of the Torah, also called Mishneh Torah, was given to this generation, it was important to emphasize concepts such as mesirat nefesh (willingness to self-sacrifice), whereas that wasn’t required for the previous generation. Though it may seem that the generation to enter the land was on a lower level & that the descent would breed hopelessness. The previous generation were told, “For you have not yet come to the resting place & heritage…,” referring to Shiloh & Jerusalem. It would only be the generation that entered the Promised Land that would inherit this “resting palace & heritage.” It was the descent to the worldly that ushers in the revelation of the celestial. & so much like in our own lives, the temporal descent effects the ultimate ascent. This is hinted at in our reading Devarim every year during the nine days, the Shabbat preceding Tisha Ba’av, the date of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. But, as R’ Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev saw it, from the descent from the first & second Beit Hamikdash, we have Shabbat Chazon, the vision of the third & final Beit HaMikdash, which transcends the previous two & brings the full revelation, ushering in the final redemption.
THIS IS JUST A LITTLE SNIPPET, READ THE FULL DVAR/ARTICLE@ www.lightofinfinite.com🕊
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The majority of us have the best of intentions, but life sometimes gets in the way. Even when we fully promise and believe that we are going to help a friend out, there are times that, in the end, it doesn’t work out how we had hoped. It’s these promises said with such love and enthusiasm that give us hope and make us feel that we aren’t alone. The flip side is when empty promises leave us feeling misled, helpless, or stranded. People shouldn’t commit to things they don’t actually have time for. Language is powerful. Indeed, as we covered three parshiot ago in Chukat, we learn from Hashem that words create worlds. In the beginning, Hashem spoke existence into being. It is the same with each of us, speech is a way to connect and create or to disconnect and destroy.
Thinking about nedarim (vows) in this parashah brought to mind a song from my favorite band, The Beastie Boys, dubbed, “Don’t Play No Games That I Can’t Win,” featuring Santigold. It’s one of the main singles off their album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. (They never intended to make a Part One. Maybe any piece of art that’s actually released is actually Part Two, as Part One is only known to its creator.) The song title came to mind because I was thinking about how often people say that they will do things “bli neder”, in other words, without a strict vow. It’s a way for people to say “I do intend to do this, but without the weight of a vow”. It’s a way to play the game and ensure that you never lose.
I do a deep dive into the power of words and promises in this week’s Podcast/article, read it in full @ https://lightofinfinite.com/dont-play-no-games-that-i-cant-win/
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There is so much epic wisdom around our falls and our elevation, but it's far too much to post here, so I thought I would share the first & last paragraph of my latest Dvar/article, "How To Levitate After Every Fall."
First paragraph -> There’s one kind of religious thought, which now feels antiquated, that teaches that a person should never fall into sin and that only in the purest state can they reach unification with the Divine and all the blessings that come with it. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was controversial in his time and had many that railed against him because he shined a light on the profound spiritual elevation one can reach because of our fallen moments.
Last paragraph -> One of the central lessons of Likutei Moharan is the Azamra, confronting these dinim, the judgments you fall into, and working to sweeten them with Hashem’s Name, elevating the fallen sparks. This is not something that you learn once or do once and master; it is done over time, as lasting and true change happens layer by layer. As Rebbeinu says, “A little bit is also good. The way to grow is to not worry about perfection — simply start moving a little bit beyond where you were a moment ago.” We are meant to emulate our Creator, who mitigates His judgment and applies mercy as often as He can. It is the only way to continue to get back up when we fall– to show ourselves and each other mercy. And it is this choice of mercy– using the right hand of chesed— that elevates us to the Infinite Light. Confucius must have been in Uman around the time of Rebbe Nachman, as he said, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
I do a deep dive into how to turn falls into elevated elation in this week’s article;
READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-levitate-after-every-fall ⚡️
ShabbatShalom🤍🕊
If, at every moment, you can choose the path that you want to pursue and, as the Talmud states, Hashem will help you towards the path of your choosing, then ensuring that you are in alignment and on a path of positivity is that much more important. It’s being mindful of the saying, “be careful what you wish for.’ We shouldn’t ever look at ourselves as fully bad or fully good, because that can color how we approach the future and, more often than not, in a negative way. If we realize that at any given moment we have the power for bad or the power for good, then we can begin to be present, let go of the weight of our past decisions and choose good, choose positivity in the very moment that we find ourselves in.
The concept of teshuva (to return) in Judaism is a very powerful part of the practice of faith. The idea that at the moment that a person comes to the realization that they want to align with the light of the Infinite, the Creator of all things, and with a full heart and with love, and desire to connect and forge a new path, it is in that heartfelt sincerity that we are born anew in a sense, and our past transgressions between created and Creator are washed away. If only all relationships were as easy. If the ones that we navigate with others coming to a truce or a state of peace, in which all past trials, tribulations and misunderstandings were completely stricken from the record of the memories and impact between ourselves and others, the layers of disconnect and discontent would vanish, and we would realize that they are all manifestations of misunderstandings in our state of exile.
It’s believed that before birth we make an oath, “Be a tzadik (righteous person), don’t be a rasha (wicked person). This seems a bit superfluous; if one swears to be righteous, why would they then also swear to not be wicked? The Alter Rebbe explains that it is because not everyone can reach the level of tzadik, and that it is imperative to also swear that we don’t fall into wickedness. A person makes an oath to overcome their impulse to evil, and this is the constant struggle we experience, caught between two choices.
This state of being is the name of the texts within Tanya that in which the Alter Rebbe teaches us these very lessons, titled, The Book of the Inbetweeners. The lesson is: if we all have the power to personify that which unites or that which divides, then always choosing the path of the righteous and not of the other side (the Sitra Achra) is the key to revelation. In this week’s parashah, we read a cautionary tale of the path of the Sitra Achra.
Balak was the king of Moav and felt threatened by the Israelites wandering near his land, with Moshe leading them and Hashem protecting them. Balak had a special power over nature; he used sorcery to manipulate it. But he saw, through the miracles of yetziat Mitzrayim (Exodus from Egypt), that the Jews were connected to power above nature. He knew that he could not defeat them himself, so he called on Bilam, the master of all sorcerers, to curse them.
But as we re-learn this week - Coming from a place of darkness and a desire to bring a people down through cursing them will only bring harm to oneself. That is the lesson of “those who bless shall be blessed”: if you are one who gives blessings, it means you are a vessel for blessings. The potential for Light is limitless for such a person, as good begets good and blessings beget blessings. This verse illuminates how dangerous it is to connect with the sitra achra (the other side): a curse is not something that a person can hope for as a one time thing. You can’t wish ill on someone and not be affected by it yourself. Cursing another, trying to break another’s vessel, is a fracturing of one’s own vessel. So Hashem’s Light that could descend into and through you is deflected and defracted by your self-fracturing.
May this Shabbat be an opportunity to heal our fractured vessels, reconnecting to the spirit of blessing, pushing away the Sitra Achra, and inviting in the Light of the Infinite.
** I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO ‘THE OTHER SIDE’ IN THIS WEEK’S ARTICLE/DVAR, SO BE SURE TO READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-other-side/ 🤍🕊
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Much love, Erez Safar
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“The best fighter is never angry.” ― Lao Tzu
The main problem with hitting the rock, which was born from a moment of imperfect faith by Moshe, was that it was an act of force. Moshe’s sin was in the moment of questioning, and the anger seeped in in that one tiny moment. The Maharal teaches: where there is complete faith, there is no room for anger, for there is great joy.
What Korach didn’t understand when he rebelled against Moshe in last week’s parashah was that each person has their own spiritual level. In fact, a true tzaddik has a greater yetzer hara than everyone else, and the consequences of their choices are, therefore, much greater. In this instance, we see that Moshe, who lived his entire life righteously, lost the Promised Land with just one moment of anger. The pressure of keeping up Moshe’s level of piety in every moment is beyond our capacity to comprehend, but what we can learn is that even just one moment of faithlessness for someone on the level of Moshe could block him from his Promised Land. How much more important it is for each of us to try and stay in a space of faith, trust, and joy, so that we don’t bring negativity into our own lives.
Rebbe Nachman’s famous teaching, “Ein shum yeush ba’olam klal!”, which means, “There is no such thing as despair in the world at all!’ It’s a hard thing to put faith into, especially when you feel like everything is horrible and hopeless. But you have to hold onto your faith, and when you see the good that comes from this struggle, then you’ll know why you had to experience it. Life must be lived, lessons must be learned, and, in the end, good often comes from “bad”. The Zohar teaches: “By (the way one handles one’s) anger, one can recognize who one is. If a person guards one’s soul at a moment of anger and does not allow it (one’s soul) to be torn from its place…this is a person who is as they should be…This is a complete person.” ‘Shalom’ means peace, ‘shalem’ means complete, so we are only complete when we are at peace. And peace only comes from mindful joy which never has the space for anger.
** FOR THIS WEEK’S ARTICLE/DVAR I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO ‘HOW TO NEVER GET ANGRY’ - READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/how-to-never-get-angry/ 🕊
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The concept of doing something Lishmah (for its sake) is a key concept in both living in alignment with oneself and living in alignment with our Source. It’s the inner spiritual work, when done with the physical performance of a mitzvah, that sanctifies our outer being. The Zohar stresses that ahavah (love) and yirah (fear) are the two main ingredients needed for Torah and mitzvot to affect their ultimate purpose.
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev teaches in Kedushat Levi that Korach didn’t think that Torah could assume the trappings of this world. It was at that moment that the earth “opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all Korach’s people and all their possessions.”
Levi Yitzchok explains that it was as if the earth was saying, “If you are unwilling to sanctify me through your deeds and to purify me through your service, then there is no place for you in this material existence. Man’s task is here on earth, not in heaven. Whoever is unprepared for this will return to his spiritual source. Let him not waste his time here.”
Rebbe Nachman teaches, “When judgments are secondary to kindness, suffering can be avoided. Suffering comes from the power of the yetzer hara (evil inclination), which is another source of judgment. Sin causes arousal of judgments, while serving God causes arousal of kindness… a person must create unity and peace between opposing sides. That is what mitigates Divine decrees.
The lesson, especially in times like these, is that pointing fingers and blaming others, feeling as though airing a grievance while hoping for a self-serving resolution, only creates more division, hate, and unrest. It is only by taking what feels divided and bringing it together that harmony can be achieved. Our task is to bring Godly awareness into physicality and, by doing that, every element and person is elevated. The tzaddikim are tapped into levels of spiritual reality and Divine consciousness that most of us could only hope for; which is why in Pirkei Avot it says, “Make for yourself a Rav (a teacher); acquire for yourself a friend; and judge every person on the positive side.” Because no one is meant to be alone, and no one should think they have all the answers. A teacher will show you otherwise, and a friend will hold you accountable for the times you may feel haughty. Judging others and yourself favorably is the only way to not let the fallen sparks and division create further disunity. Redemption is harmony, a feeling of spiritual alignment, while rebellion, when not for the sake of Heaven, will leave the person lost, out of alignment, and maybe even feeling as if they have been swallowed up by the earth.
I pray that we can begin to eliminate doubt and division and usher in the expansion of an ever-broadening spiritual reality and the Moshiach, speedily in our days!
** READ THIS ARTICLE/DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/revolt-vs-redemption/
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Much love, Erez Safar
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As it says in Tehillim, גַּל־עֵינַ֥י וְאַבִּ֑יטָה נִ֝פְלָא֗וֹת מִתּוֹרָתֶֽךָ Open my eyes, that I may behold the wonders of Your Torah.
We need to be actively aware. It’s not just by thoughts, or speech, it’s also by action that we become holy.
As Big Sean raps on Justin Bieber’s seminal album, “Believe”, “the grass ain’t always greener on the other side. It’s green where you water it.”
It’s like this with anything— our relationship with our partner, with life, and just the same or even more so with our Source, the Light of Infinite. We need to open our eyes and align with the present and have that presence manifest concretely. The pesukim below contain so much wisdom on how to open our eyes. The deep kabbalistic and mystical power of tzitzit are a part of it. The other is understanding human nature and how to elevate oneself to Divine consciousness.
דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם וְעָשׂ֨וּ לָהֶ֥ם צִיצִ֛ת עַל־כַּנְפֵ֥י בִגְדֵיהֶ֖ם לְדֹרֹתָ֑ם ….וּרְאִיתֶ֣ם אֹת֗וֹ וּזְכַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְו֥ת יְהֹוָ֔ה וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־תָת֜וּרוּ אַחֲרֵ֤י לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַחֲרֵ֣י עֵֽינֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם זֹנִ֖ים אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם
Speak to the Israelites and have them make tassels on the corners of their garments for all generations….and when you see them, you shall remember all of God’s commandments so as to keep them. You will then not stray after your heart(s) and eyes, which [in the past] have led you to immorality.
In this verse, we are commanded to perform the ritual of tzitzit: to see them, and, in seeing, to remember Hashem’s commandments and, in seeing and remembering, to keep them. It’s their being “in sight” that reminds us and brings us to action.
Judaism is a religion that’s built on action. Love without loving actions grows stale and often leads to a distancing from what once felt unbreakable. The Hebrew word for love, אהבה/ahava (ah-ha-va), has the root word of ‘hav’ which means ‘to give’. Love is synonymous with giving. Our faith is tied with action because action is giving of oneself, and it is through the mitzvot and other Jewish rituals that attachment, clarity, unification and love manifest themselves.
We have 613 mitzvot. The word tzitzit has the numerical value of 600, and the tzitzit themselves have eight strings and five knots, totalling 613. So, the mitzvot that we are commanded to remember and to follow are contained in the tzitzit. As it’s written, “And you shall see it and remember all the commandments of God.”
All of the Torah’s commandments are meant to take physicality and elevate it to spiritualize “reality”. It is only when we act with the intent to unify ourselves with Divine consciousness that we can unify the animal and Godly souls within ourselves. The tzitzit are said to gather the exiles toward redemption, which is why we gather their four corners into one hand prior to reciting the Shema, which of course includes this very paragraph on tzitzit from our Parashah. Mitzrayim (מִצְרָיִם, Egypt) reflects Meitzar (מֵיצָר, a narrow constricted place), which is the definition of exile– spiritual narrowness and constriction.
** I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO HOW TO TURN THOUGHT, SPEECH, & ACTION INTO ELEVATION AND DISCLOSE A YEMENITE SHEMA SECRET @ https://lightofinfinite.com/out-of-sight-out-of-mind/
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The truth is we all will fall time and again. The secret is to not view it negatively. Because life is only truly negative if we don’t use our fall toward elevation. If falling back pushes us forward, it’s a powerful tool towards transcendence. Just living, in and of itself, presents challenges, and each challenge is an opportunity to get it right the next time. If we can greet hate with love, our life can change; if we don’t, we tend to stay stuck in a cycle that doesn’t feel aligned. As Mac Miller so eloquently sang on ‘Hurt Feelings’, “You been going through it, I just go around it.” This touches on the concept of the Rebbe Maharash’s: l’chatchila ariber (“leap over it in the first place”). The Rebbe Maharash would say, “The world says that if you cannot crawl under an obstacle, try to leap over it. However, I say, leap over it in the first place!” So, when we are faced with challenges, our attitude towards them can affect the very challenge itself. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe addressed when replying to a letter he received:
I have just received your letter . . . in which you describe your present [poor] state of health.
Surely, you have heard of the saying of the Rebbe Maharash: “The world says that if you cannot crawl under an obstacle, try to leap over it. However, I say, leap over it in the first place!”
This applies in your case as well.
Indeed, it would seem that the state of openly revealed joy should be delayed until after you are actually healed. Nevertheless, in keeping with the above-mentioned saying, it is reasonable to express this joy resulting from your eventual healing, although the actual healing has yet to take place.
Not only that, but the joy itself will be a catalyst to hasten your healing. This is in keeping with the saying often heard from the rebbes of Chabad: “Think positively, and you will see positive results.” Most assuredly this will be effective when you transfer these positive thoughts into joyous words and deeds . . .
Dealing with negative situations by reacting with hope and curiosity rather than cynicism and depression allows us to change the circumstance for the better. This is done when we remind ourselves that everything is in the hands of Hashem – every descent is for the purpose of ascent – and somehow, even if we can’t fully understand it, everything is for our own good in the long run. This is all part of the journey in the concealed space of the state that we are in. We can’t often see that our challenge is for the purpose of our growth and often to change the path that we are on. Of course, this is all to be applied internally. It is something we have to master to muster the love of life even in the hard times. When it comes to those around us going through their own journeys, we should always respond to their hardships only with compassion. The Rebbe says, “we have only, by faith, to compensate for those moments of faithlessness.” I’ve always seen time as a figment of a fractured world, a perspective limited by finitude. Our limited selves are trapped in a constant struggle: Amalek is the manifestation of safek, the expansion of narrow physicality, while the constant practice of eliminating safek is the expansion of ever-broadening spiritual reality. It’s only by that expansion and unification with the Divine consciousness that each person can tap into the light of the Infinite, our Godly soul, unbound by time.
*** I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THE SECRET TO NEVER FALLING, SO DEFINITELY READ IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-never-falling/
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King Solomon writes in Mishlei that whatever a person pictures in their mind has the power to happen. Our power to draw down blessings is tied into the faith that colors our beings as vessels to receive. The law of attraction is simple yet profound— positive thoughts bring positivity into a person’s life. And since the opposite is also true, it’s that much more important to paint the pictures that rest in our subconscious with positive brush strokes. It’s wild to think that only about 3% of our brain processes are conscious (our thoughts, ideas, understanding, and our decisions), while the other 97% is used for subconscious and automatic functions. Our habits and beliefs also fall under the 97%, which kabbalistically is tied to our Nefesh HaBehemit (our Animal soul), and illustrates how powerful our subconscious mind is. The 3% also corresponds to the three intellectual powers of Chochmah, Binah, and Daat, translated as wisdom, understanding and knowledge, which are an acronym for the word ChaBaD.
We need to use our Nefesh Hasichlit (our intellectual soul), to color our subconscious towards good, because even when our intentions in our conscious thoughts and ideas are for the best, our subconscious can sabotage them. The reason for this is because our subconscious doesn’t actually work with reason or logic, but with images and emotions. So, if we understand in a given situation that there is nothing to be afraid of, but our subconscious mind pulls from past images stored in our subconscious mind, we will feel afraid nevertheless.. Since the part of our brain in the back that our subconscious mind sits in takes up more than the part in the front that colors our consciousness, we need to be that much more careful to replace negative imagery with positivity. This is what will balance our conscious and subconscious and bring us closer to a space of tranquility, which brings blessings.
*** I DO A DEEP DIVE INTO THE SECRET TO BLESSING THIS WEEK, SO DEFINITELY READ IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-blessing/
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We all have a Nefesh Elokit (a part of God), so the truth lies within each of us. We just need to transcend the layers of doubt and unlock the powerful truth and redemption that awaits. In an oft-quoted Mishnah it’s written, “Every human being is unique, & every human being is a copy of the prototype human being (Adam)…therefore, every human being must say, ‘For my sake the world was created.’” Every being was created in the image & likeness of God. The same Mishnah teaches, “that every life is like an entire universe.”
It’s when our soul enters our body that this becomes true. A body without a soul is similar to any other, but when the awareness of the soul as part of the body is recognized by an individual, he or she can begin to live out one’s purpose– their potential to be an entire universe becomes apparent. To use the body, the finite, to spiritualize reality & to fulfill the Light of the Infinite, that is when the body is a vessel for the soul. That realization can take a person from a physical & spiritual desert (midbar) to a spiritual & physical promised land (Israel).
So, just as the verse can be interpreted as a descent or an ascent & a head looking down or being lifted up, so, too, is it true for the individual being counted, & how they walk away from that, feeling insignificant or uplifted. The Mishnah comes to teach the importance of each individual, so much so that each person is their own universe.
The Torah describes the Jewish people as ish echad b’lev echad (one person with one heart). So, even if we are being counted individually, we can’t view ourselves as separate entities. We are all essential in the wholeness of ourselves as a people viewed as one body. When one of us is hurting, we are all hurting, just as when one part of our own body hurts, the entire body is affected. We can only be shalem (whole/complete) when we are all redeemed, when none of us is hurting.
My dad was a Chaplain, a Rabbi in the Navy, & he traveled all over, & on occasion would bump into Carlebach. On occasion, Carlebach would tell him about the word “Shalom.” He said, “How can you say Shalom when you first meet someone & the same word when you say goodbye? Shalom comes from shalem — completeness. I was incomplete until I met you, but now that I met you, I am more complete than before. But, now that you are leaving, you are taking something away from me, & I say ‘shalom’ in the hope that someday you will come back & make me more complete again.” We are all made in the image of Hashem, & with each positive interaction, we see another piece of Hashem, & we feel more complete. In this time of counting Sefirat HaOmer to rectify our dissonance in preperation for receiving the Torah, we realize that each day is a new beginning, a new opportunity to dance with the Divine.
Read the full Dvar/article where I do a deep dive into how to use humility and how to not block your blessings!
GO TO https://lightofinfinite.com/the-color-of-humility/
Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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For this week I wrote about how to bring more blessings into your life, which is outlined in the beginning of this Parashah. I brought in elements from Jon Batiste’s speech at the Grammy’s and some deep lyrics by @KendrickLamar, + epic teachings by the Alter Rebbe and Rebbe Nachman, and as always, lots of Kabbalah around the Parashah!
The two aspects of the ה (heh) in the Havayah bring to mind this necklace that I received this week. Much like this parashah, Bechukotai, outlines the two ways we could choose to act in this world, one bringing blessings and the other blocking them, the necklace signifies how we can emulate our Source. The upper and lower ה depicted in this necklace and in the world are about giving, receiving, and oneness.
Kabbalisitcally, the letters that spell out the Divine name represent aspects of our inner consciousness: the upper ה represents our desire to give and the lower ה represents our desire to receive. Our Source perpetually gives without the need or desire to receive, and this correlates and is mirrored in the extent to which we give.
Meanwhile, the lower ה ascending to the upper ה represents our spiritual awakening to pure giving and unconditional love. This inner transformation when manifested enables us to experience the infinite goodness that is the source of all reality.
The lower ה is empty because if we focus simply on receiving, we are hollow. When we recognize the giving nature of the universe and that it’s imperative to be in alignment, we can discover that, as we attain deeper levels of giving and love, we attain wholeness and deeper levels of divine union. This is why the Hebrew word for love, Ahava, has ‘hav’ meaning “to give” at its root. You’ll notice the upper ה is engraved into the necklace. It’s only when we attach ourselves in such a way to our Source, through learning the Torah and keeping the mitzvot lishmah, that we can become love, become light and manifest blessings for ourselves and each other. Oftentimes, I’ll free verse poetic around my dvars as I write. So,I thought to end this Dvar, I would share this week’s:
don’t trip
on the finite
minutia
don’t take
ad nauseam
just
give
love
live
the world
is infinite
&
gives
to the giving
loves the
truly living
&
shines light
on the ones who create
space for it
READ IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/faith-fuels-the-future-fear-stirs-the-past/
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All of life is about the beautiful balance of releasing control & connecting. Because we're tasked to toil for our bread, we find ourselves stuck in a mindset of thinking that we are in control of our lives, that the more that we dominate our circumstances, the more in control we are. What we find in the lessons of Shemita (the year of release) is that the rewards come from the release. Yes, we must work the field, but without pause, there is no ultimate pleasure. To demonstrate faith to ourselves & our Creator, we have to pause our compulsion to constantly control. What we see most immediately with Shabbat, especially with our phone addiction, is that while we seem to be steering the ship, the ship often steers us. When we shift the dynamics & put away our phones, we can reconnect to our purpose, our Creator & faith itself. It’s like a hard reset to wash away the layers of disconnect, so that we can once again feel unified with our Source.
Last week we discussed Shabbat as a day of rest for Hashem & for us, now we're taught about Shabbat for the land of Israel: for 6 years we may sow the field, prune the vineyards & gather crops, but in the 7th year the land is “released”.
The most beautiful part of Shemita is that every 7 years we're commanded to forgive all debts, to not work the land of Israel by planting or harvesting & to let all of the produce that grows become ownerless, so that anyone can take & eat from it. It's a time when the figments of our fractured perceptions & differences between each other fall by the wayside & when we share status, all being infused with Godliness of equal standing.
We fulfill these mitzvot by releasing our impulse to work the land excessively & control creation. We release ownership & debts to ones in need, shifting our focus & trust in our own work & control & putting faith in the Divine will. It's a profound illustration of our faith that, after all, everything belongs to the Master of it All, Hashem.
Release control & connect.
—> Go to www.lightofinfinite.com where I jump further into Shemita, the DNA of creation & the 7 sefirot permeate the 7 days of creation & are the ways in which Hashem orchestrates existence.
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Much love, Erez Safar
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Going through a break up can be one of the most difficult things to endure. A break or a separation in what felt like a divine union. What feels like a heart shattered into a million pieces. But we have to find a way to trust that it is for our own good and what’s truly aligned will arise at the right time. We have to shift our focus from what’s lost and lean into faith that whatever is meant to be will be. We never know what our Creator has in store for us.
All of life in various ways, even if we don’t fully feel it, is an element of heartbreak, since at all times we are somewhat separate from the Shechinah (Divine Presence). How to elevate in exile is a part of the process of Sefirot HaOmer, rectifying each level of the seven sefirot of חסד, Chesed (loving-kindness) through מלכות, Malchut (sovereignty, leadership).
We learn that “the Jews in Egypt were on the 49th level of impurity,” a step away from the bottom, the 50th level of impurity (tied to our animalistic soul and selves).
As everything has a balance and every potential for bad has the potential for good, we also learn that in these 49 days, B’nei Yisrael reached the very highest level: “the Jews were on the 49th level of holiness (tied to our Godly selves and souls) when they received the Torah,” one step away from the highest level, the 50th gate/level of holiness, which was the revelation at Sinai.
We are now in the midst of counting the forty nine days of Sefirat Omer, from the second night of Pesach until Shavuot. The Omer is also referred to as Seven Shabbatot. And, as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov says, we do it “Peh Sach,” meaning with an “open mouth.” We are speaking spirituality into existence, mirroring the journey of B’nei Yisrael in the desert, who spent these forty nine days in spiritual preparation. With each day and week in these seven weeks, we are tasked with transcending our physical constraints and reaching redemption. Time is a figment of a fractured world, but it is the world we live in, and to remove the layers of klipah (the “shells” of everything around us that conceal Godly light), we need to go through the process of these seven weeks of counting, of meditation, of moving through seven Shabbatot until reaching the 50th day, when we receive the Torah anew.
Sefirat HaOmer is a journey in refining the seven emotional attributes outlined in the ten sefirot: חסד, Chesed (Loving-kindness); גבורה, Gevurah (Justice, Strength, Discipline); תפארת, Tiferet (Beauty, Harmony, Compassion); נצח, Netzach (Endurance, Victory); הוד, Hod (Humility, Empathy); יסוד, Yesod, (Bonding, Foundation); and מלכות, Malchut, (Sovereignty, Leadership). The root of any of our own enslavement is the negative side— or distorted use— of these emotions. The seven weeks of seven days counting and moving through these emotions are meant as a time to reflect, be mindful and try to be in tune with the emotions in a healthy way and remove any dissonance clouding clarity of love. The distortion of an emotion is when it is not used for ultimate good, and since emotions are multidimensional, each of the seven attributes are composed of all seven. as such:
Day One: Chesed of Chesed
Day Two: Gevurah of Chesed
Day Three: Tiferet of Chesed
Day Four: Netzach of Chesed
Day Five: Hod of Chesed
Day Six: Yesod of Chesed
Day Seven: Malchut of Chesed
And this continues on Day One of Week 2: Chesed of Gevurah, and so on. To fully refine any one emotion, which would in theory take seven days, instead we count seven cycles of seven days. In this time, we try to transcend our limited view of our physical reality and tap into our spirit that’s beyond these constraints. We say the bracha (blessing) and speak the cycle into existence with kavanah (heartfelt intention). The Talmud teaches: “A person’s prayer is not heard on high unless he places his soul in his hands” This is a time to tap into transcendence.
The klipot that manifest all around us represent the external, mirroring the negativity or egocentricity that keeps us from connecting to the internal and our true selves as creations with a Divine purpose, which connects us to the Divine light. It is the concealment that allows free will. It is the truth that is hidden that we have to fight to remain in to continue to do good and feel oneness. This negativity or ego is like the shell of a fruit: it does serve to protect the fruit, just as there are times it is useful for our own self-preservation, but it, too, must be removed to get to the sweetness. Focusing on the shell while ignoring its core will deceive us every time, leaving us holding the peel instead of its precious fruit. We have to remove our layers of ego and negativity to get to the root of our being and purpose, to get to a redemptive state and to receive the Torah.
Click for the full dvar where I share a poem on klipot, discuss the secrets of Shabbat, and fully jump into the emotional aspects of Sefirat HaOmer! - https://lightofinfinite.com/finding-grace-in-time/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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“My kedushah (holiness) is greater than yours.”
– The Maggid of Mezrich
People always tell me it’s “so LA” to talk about energy and vibes, but I think perhaps it’s just more openly discussed here. In truth, we all feel and are affected by both. That’s why it’s so important to be mindful of the company we keep. I often place myself in what I call sacred spaces or spiritual environments, because when people are there to reach higher levels of being, it means the base level of what’s expected is generally pretty elevated.
As I often say, life can be so precious if you are truly present, and the Torah is the present that presents the tools of how to sanctify time, space, and oneself. When we have full faith, we can tap more into our purpose and our spirit and worry less about the temporal “realities” of this material world. Abraham Joshua Heschel writes in Man in Search of God: religion begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us. It is in that tense, eternal asking in which the soul is caught and in which man’s answer is elicited.
The parashah opens commanding us to be holy, קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ (“Be Holy [because, I, God your Lord am holy]”), implying that we should always seek greater levels of kedushah. We can also interpret the Hebrew words קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ as a Divine assurance that we will attain kedushah, if we sanctify Hashem’s name. As we learn in Pirkei Avot, “One who honors Torah, will be honored…” As we read further in the parashah, “Observe My Shabbats and fear My Sanctuary; I am God.”
Reb Natan of Breslov teaches that the main tool a person can use to subdue materialism and elevate their spirituality is awe and fear of Hashem, explaining that “Fear My Sanctuary” means that if one has fear, they can experience “My Temple [for they have ascended above materialism].
When the Maggid says, “My kedusha is greater than yours,” he’s not saying “I’m holier than you are,” rather, “My kedusha stems from your kedusha.” This connects to the concept, מצווה גוררת מצווה - that one good deed always pulls another one in its wake. The Maggid takes this to the realm of kedusha: if someone else does a holy act, it inspires you to be holier for yourself & for others, & so your holiness increases beyond the initial act.
All of nature can be used for darkness or for light. And if we learned anything from Stan Lee and his Spider-Man comics, and I think we learned a lot, it is that “with great power comes great responsibility.” We have the power, we have the potential, we even have the cheat codes. It’s only if we use them and tap into the infinite part of ourselves that we become supernatural. So, the Maggid is saying that your kedusha makes his kedusha greater, because each of us has the power to make others holier. & as Abraham Joshua Heschel reminds us, ‘Every Moment Is an Opportunity for Greatness.’
Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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“I visualize what it is, not what is isn’t” – Nas
The first pasuk (verse) of this week’s parashah reads:
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר הֹ’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֣י מ֔וֹת שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן בְּקרְבָתָ֥ם לִפְנֵי־ה’ וַיָּמֻֽתוּ Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons [Nadav and Avihu], who drew close to Hashem and died.
Or HaChayim explains that the sins of Nadav and Avihu were very different than sins as we generally understand them. He explains that their sin involved allowing themselves to cling to Hashem so totally that their souls simply left their bodies. It’s written “who drew close to Hashem and died” because it was the drawing close in the way they had that caused their death.
We are tasked with reaching towards hispashtut hagashmiyut, divesting oneself of materiality. But this spiritual ascent must be balanced. There is the concept of ratzo ve’shov, which means to run and to return. That ratzo must always be coupled with shov. Ratzo being the state of dveykut (longing to cleave to Hashem), the insatiable desire of the neshama (soul) to transcend its material existence, to “run forward” and cling and cleave to its Source. Shov is the neshama’s awakening and determination to “return” and to fulfill its mission, using the body, making the physical world a dwelling for Hashem. This explains Chazal’s statement, “Against your will, you live.” As much as our souls yearn to leave our bodies, it is our mission to fulfill the task that can only be done when the soul uses and elevates the body. Nadav and Avihu’s sin was abandoning the shov, the mission of this world. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that their yearning was not balanced with a commitment to worldly service.
We might not have the same struggle on the level of worrying about our souls ascending so high so as not to return to its body or our physical existence, but in our own world, we need to balance our spiritual and material pursuits. As it’s stated in the Talmud, just as we are amply rewarded for performing avodat (in service of) Hashem, so too, at times we are rewarded for refraining – if what we’re looking to attain is beyond our spiritual grasp.
As we can all feel, everything, especially wellness, is about balance. But how do we find balance? How do we control our thoughts, lessening our anxiety and being more present…? Anxiety is born of worry of what might be. Faith is trusting the process and future while focusing on the moment.
I post photos of moments when I’m elated being around my kids and watching how much of life they are loving. It’s almost ironic snapping a photo, because it breaks the moment for a second, but I want to capture them and these priceless memories. Often I’ll post them later to my social media with the caption, “life can be so precious, when you’re present.” Even taking a photo can be a way of being present, not just appreciating a moment but taking action inspired by how in it we really are. So many other moments we are present in our body, but our mind is somewhere else. Balance is about being present. When we start to drift to the future or past or the “what ifs” and “shouldn’t haves,” that breeds anxiety and takes away from enjoying the short amount of time we are gifted in this world to find and create our purpose, and to shine and share light and love.
Easier said than done. Anxiety is so prevalent throughout humanity and rears its ugly head in so many different ways, crippling in more extreme circumstances. In those moments, it seems we all share a sort of long term memory loss, that actually we have gotten through to the other side, each time. Our mantra to strengthen this truth and those memories should be that whatever is for you will manifest.
See how I tie this in to the two birds we read about last week and the two goats we read about this week - which symbolize the eternal struggle between Yaakov and Eisav.
All the stories of the Torah are actually the stories in our own lives as well. We are all microcosms of the universe, these stories playing out inside of us, just as we play out life as a story in the expanse of reality. We all have Eisav and Yaakov in us, their struggle is our own. We need to defeat the parts that are Eisav’s within us all, and the two birds and the two goats are manifestations of both this struggle and steps towards its rectification and elevation.
I’ll leave you off with what feels like a mantra to me, it’s Pharrell on his song, “ESP”:
Detach yourself (let go, let go, let go, let go, let go)
Re-pack yourself
Be back yourself (let go, let go, let go, let go, let go)
And dream as yourself
Be seen as yourself (let go, let go, let go, let go, let go)
Beam as yourself
Scream as yourself (let go, let go, let go, let go, let go)
And be king of yourself
️—— THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET, READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/step-in-rhythm-grow-in-concert/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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All of Pesach is an opportunity for bitul hayesh, to negate and nullify all traces of ego and self-centeredness, to transcend the illusion of self.
I just wrote this Pesach & Omer companion called, ‘The Transformative Power of Pesach and Sefirat Ha’Omer’ that you might find interesting.
We can draw connections between the weekly portion from Leviticus and the larger Jewish story of moving from spiritual constriction into spiritual freedom. From safek (doubt) into salvation, the mindset of Redemption.
Chametz literally means leavening: that which causes bread to rise. Chazal (Our Sages) teach us that this chametz represents arrogance and the evil inclination, the yetzer hara.
In Talmud Berachot, the yetzer hara is depicted as the “yeast in the dough”, puffing up a person’s pride.
We are obligated to search our homes in preparation for Pesach, collecting any leftover scraps and crumbs of chametz that might be hidden, and then to ritually burn them before Pesach begins. This process is called biyur. This ritual primes us to spend Pesach ridding ourselves of our spiritual chametz— our arrogance and pride.
It’s important to face ourselves honestly as we do this, and, like the practice of biyur, there comes a time to let our egos “burn”, to not let them hold us back any longer, so that we can strengthen our emunah (faith) and connect to something higher than ourselves.
Chag Kasher V’Sameach!
Read the full dvar/article @ https://lightofinfinite.com/the-transformative-power-of-pesach-and-sefirat-haomer/
Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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Staying tapped into hashgacha prati/Divine providence, requires proactive alignment. There's that feeling inside, an elevating feeling when one feels tapped into one’s purpose & Creator, & the opposite feeling when we feel trapped & one’s actions are disconnected from the positive, from purpose, from our Creator. In the Beit HaMikdash, sitting on top of the holy ark, were the two Keruvim. When we as a people were in alignment with our Source, the Keruvim would face each other, but when we were not, they would face away from each other.
The opposing forces manifest as the yetzer hara or kelipot. In the world, it’s the outer coverings or “shells” that conceal Godly light. In ourselves, it is the negativity or egocentricity that keeps us from connecting to our true selves as creations with a Divine purpose, which connects us to the Divine light. This negativity or ego is like the shell of a fruit; it does serve to protect the fruit, just as there are times it is useful for our own self-preservation, but it, too, must be removed to get to the sweetness. We have to remove our layers of ego & negativity to get to the root of our being & purpose.
One important principle of manifesting good & subduing the bad is by being protective over one’s speech. This parsha teaches how to atone for lashon hara (negative speech), we read in the Talmud, Evil gossip kills three: the one who says it, the one who listens, & the subject of the gossip.
R’ Kotler says that to be wholehearted with Hashem means not to live a life of contradictions, & that someone who speaks lashon hara lives a life of contradictions. It’s not easy, as it's something that often comes naturally, sharing an experience involving another person, but the more we are careful to only uplift each other through speech, the more we're aligned with positivity & light. This incredible pianist asked me yesterday what I think the purpose of life is, I said that it’s to reveal Hashem’s light in this world, that is how we shine our own light, which brings forth everyone’s light, which is the only way for us to bring awareness to the Light of the Infinite.
THIS IS ONLY A FEW SNIPPETS FROM THE DVAR, TO REALLY JUMP INTO THE POWERFUL LESSONS IN THIS WEEK’S PARASHAH, PLEASE READ THE FULL DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/becoming-a-semblance-of-god/
Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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“The sign of circumcision is, as I think, so important, that I could persuade myself that it alone would preserve the [Jewish] nation forever.” – Spinoza
In this week’s parashah, Tazria, we are entering a new section of Vayikra (Leviticus) dealing with the laws of man. The previous parshiot dealt with the laws pertaining to animals. This follows the order of creation; man (ish) was created last. Rav Samlai explains that the order is such not because man was created last, but for the reason that man was created last.
It’s simpler to understand the sanctification of the animal world. It’s natural for us to make important distinctions between the clean and unclean, taharah (purity) and tumah (impurity), in the animal world. Man’s struggle with himself, however, and the work we have to do to sanctify ourselves, is far more complex. The Zohar compares man to animals in the regards of the korban (sacrifice), deducing from the verse “and the eighth day the skin of the orlah should be circumcised” being amidst the verses that deal with taharah and tumah of the woman giving birth. What we see in these readings in their proximity and importance is the sanctification of time (Shabbat) of man (brit milah) and of place (the korban). Hashem is kadosh (holy) as it says, “for I am Kadosh.”
We, on the other hand, have the constant struggle to attain kedushah. All of this comes to teach us how to free ourselves from our slavery to that which is not holy and to take actions towards holiness, freedom, spirituality and oneness. If we are all in the image of God, but have no actual image of God, then how do we become a semblance of the Infinite Light that is Hashem in the finite that surrounds us? The answer is found in the Alter Rebbe’s teaching of the basis and root purpose of the entire Torah– to elevate and exalt the soul high above the body to Hashem, the source and root of all worlds, and to draw down the Ein Sof (Infinite Light). This is done through using the body below to elevate the soul on high.
As we have covered previously, Hashem desires the heart, but it is the heart that must be put into action for elevation to take place. The mitzvah of tzedakah is the comprehensive principle of all the mitzvot and it is not one that could be limited to the heart, for the poor can’t be sustained with love only, but by action in concrete ways. Shedding tears for the poor, while not acting and keeping all resources to oneself won’t save a life, it is only through the action that we could complete the purpose of creation and our purpose of being created. The Rebbe teaches that this is the meaning of the verse, “a woman that will conceive,” because with ishah there needs to be tazria – sowing on earth below. Reaching exalted levels of the soul is not enough when we are tasked to use the body here on earth elevating it, this is how we bring about the future redemption.
One of my favorite lessons from Rabbi Simcha Bunim is: “Everyone must have two pockets and a note in each pocket, so that he or she can reach into one or the other, depending on the need. When feeling lowly and depressed, discouraged or disconsolate, one should reach into the right pocket and there find the words: Bishvili nivra ha-olam— “The world was created for me.”
But when feeling high and mighty, one should reach into the left pocket and find the words: V’anochi afar v’efer – “I am but dust and ashes.”
Kabbalah teaches that the world was created as a broken vessel; Hashem constricted himself and hid His good in the brokenness of the world. Reb Natan of Breslov says that our highest task is to choose to see His Light, to choose to let in and partner with Hashem, even when he is hidden. Our laws and customs, in ways so mysterious and in ways very obvious– literally turning our physical bodies into ritual spiritual objects– are the most powerful reminders we have to keep making that choice to strive for something higher. To not let ourselves believe that we are only creatures, that we are only animals, driven only by physical instincts. The Torah teaches us how to free ourselves from our self-imposed slavery, to take actions towards holiness, freedom, ultimate oneness.
Man is but dust of the earth, Adamah, but through the struggle and fight to spiritualize reality we become Adameh la-Elyon, a semblance of God.
THIS IS ONLY A FEW SNIPPETS FROM THE DVAR, TO REALLY JUMP INTO THE POWERFUL LESSONS IN THIS WEEK’S PARASHAH, PLEASE READ THE FULL DVAR @ https://lightofinfinite.com/becoming-a-semblance-of-god/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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When I can’t sleep, I often free verse / wax poetic about whatever’s on my mind. It’s always interesting reading it the next morning. Here’s one from the other night:
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The world
is full
of enough
dissonance
produce melody perform alchemy
sift the good notes from the bad the serene from the siren song
step in rhythm grow in concert
we are all notes in this divine orchestra of existence
—-
It seems we all want to be one with our natural state and the spaces we are in — content, fulfilled, thriving. That would seem to be enough, but the truth is we want more than that— we want to transcend this natural state, to not be bound by the limitations and constrictions of this world, a world where the good is always intertwined with a bit of “bad”. Only in the next world is good 100% and bad is not even a concept. When I was a kid, and even today, when I walk out of the theater after seeing a superhero movie, I feel like I have those powers, if only for a little bit. The allure of these comic books turned movies is the thought of breaking free of one’s limitations, of ridding oneself of reality, of turning what is natural into supernatural.
In these past parshiot, we have been reading about the Mishkan (the tabernacle) and how Hashem commanded Aharon, the high priest, and his sons to bring special sacrifices for seven days to prepare themselves for their service in the Mishkan. Every seven days, Moshe would take the Mishkan apart and put it back together, as the Jews wandered through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. In this week’s parashah, Shemini, Hebrew for “eight” (referring to the eighth day following the seven days of the inauguration of the Tabernacle), we learn that the service of the Mishkan actually begins on the “eighth” day.
As we read, “And it was on the eighth day . . . and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people . . . And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the altar, and all the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces.”
The Kli Yakar, a preeminent Medieval Torah scholar, asks why it’s called the “eighth day.” The Jewish week is seven days, and the consecration of the Mishkan was limited to seven days, as it is written, “And you shall not go out of the door of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration be fulfilled, for He shall consecrate you seven days.” The Kli Yakar answers his own question, stating that related to the eighth day it is written, “Today the Lord appears to you.” Hashem doesn’t appear in the Mishkan during the seven days of consecration but on and because of the eighth day, a day beyond the natural order of things.
Seven is a recurring number in the Torah representing the natural order: seven days of the week; the month of the festivals is Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar; and we have seven-year cycles, culminating in Shemittah (the Sabbatical year). As we learn, seven in Judaism always represents completeness of the natural world, the finite world; so eight, of course, is that one step beyond nature, something more than human, more than finititude– something holy. Shabbat, the seventh day of our week, is a taste of the infinite, but it’s still bound in time and space. It’s a gift from Hashem that we even get that taste, as it is stated in Talmud Shabbat, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, I have a precious gift in My treasure house, and it is called the Shabbat.” The eighth day represents a taste beyond this world.
I can’t put all that I wrote in this little taste of the Dvar, you’ll have to read it at the link below, but the biggest takeaway from this parashah for me is that when we elevate our soul above our body, aligning our physical selves to our spiritual selves we can transform our natural space into a supernatural setting.
For this week, I’ll leave you with a question, and I look forward to hearing/reading your thoughts!
1. What are your physical acts of spirituality?
2. How do you tap into the supernatural?
3. How do you draw down the space and power of eight into the space of seven that we all reside in?
4. What is your unique human effort in revealing and serving Hashem in this world?
Please email your thoughts when you get a chance to: info@lightofinfinite.com
️—— THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET, READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/step-in-rhythm-grow-in-concert/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite
This week’s parashah, Tzav, continues discussing the intricacies of the Temple sacrifices and touches on chametz (leavened bread). It’s the parashah before Pesach (some years it’s read on the Shabbat just prior to Pesach, and other years we read it right after Purim, a few weeks prior to Pesach). Learning the parashah, we can draw connections between the weekly portion from Leviticus and the larger Jewish story of moving from spiritual constriction into spiritual freedom. From safek (doubt) into salvation. So when Tzav falls out such that we have a few weeks before Pesach to get into the mindset of Redemption, I see that as a blessing. As Rav Kook so eloquently asks of us all, “find delight in what is truly precious.”
It’s only recently that I really began to delve into the meaning of Pesach. I’ve realized that the Seder is not just a historical retelling of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, but an actual manifestation, an opportunity for each of us to leave our own Egypts. Through this ritual, we’re meant to free ourselves, to ‘burn’ the chametz that holds us back from seeing and living in full truth (emet), from being fully connected to the Infinite Light (ohr ha-kodesh). As it’s written in the Zohar, “G-d does not dwell in… a fragmented place.”
In his notebook, Rav Kook writes:
“The reality of Hashem’s providence is discernible when the world is seen in its totality. The Divine presence is not manifest in anything defective. Since HaShem does not abide where there is deficiency, how can HaShem abide where everything is lacking, where all we have is the weak and puny entity, only the particularity of the ego? This call to be committed always to the principle of universality to the divine ensemble, where all things have their being, is the essence of the soul of the righteous who walk before Hashem and whose delight is in the Divine.”
We must remember through the story of our enslavement that we, too, were once slaves and that, as Dr. King reminds us, no one is free until we are all free. Redemption is when the light of universality shines. It’s our task to usher in that revelation. This starts within our own sanctuaries and shines out from there. Nullifying the ego so the screens of separation between us all begin to fall. Indeed, the Alter Rebbe teaches in the Tanya that the basis and root purpose of the entire Torah is to elevate and exalt the soul high above the body to [G-d], the source and root of all worlds, and to draw down the Ein Sof (Infinite Light). And only when we place primary importance of our soul over our bodies can the walls that separate us come down and be replaced with love and unification. Since it’s our bodies that separate us from each other, while the soul binds us. When one focuses on the body, the separation between us becomes apparent, and only the love we create can bind us, but a created love can never equal a natural and innate love. So, love between people whose primary importance is focused on the physical, on the body over the soul, is based on external factors and endures only as long as those factors remain in play. Only when we shift our focus towards the soul over the body, of oneness over self, of the unifying and Infinite Light of the Creator of all creation, over the differences of the elements of creation, can Infinite Love exist in its purest state.
In this week’s parashah, Hashem provides the instructions for the priestly meal offerings, sacrifices that did not involve animals. Moses is told that “[the meal offering] shall not be baked leavened (lo teahfeh chametz). I have presented it as their share from My fire-offerings.”
In Exodus, when Hashem gives the commandments of Pesach, it’s written, “No leaven (chametz) shall be found in your houses for seven days. For whoever eats what is chametz, that person shall be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a citizen of the country.”
Chametz literally means leavening: that which causes bread to rise. Chazal (our Sages of blessed memory) teach us that this chametz represents arrogance and the evil inclination, the yetzer hara. In Talmud Berachot, the yetzer hara is depicted as the “yeast in the dough”, puffing up a person’s pride. The Talmud explains that the portion of the meal-offering eaten by the priest (kohen) is not allowed to be offered on the altar (mizbeach).
A priest is dependent on Divine Gifts for their bread, so they cannot succumb to haughtiness or arrogance. But us, we have to work for our bread (with “sweat of our brow” after Adam’s sin). The more we accumulate and think it is by our own doing, the more the evil inclination manifests in the form of ego, haughtiness, and arrogance.
Matzah– the central symbol of Pesach– is the antithesis of chametz. It is known as lechem oni, the bread of poverty and affliction. Matzah signifies the humility that comes with poverty, and so the mitzvah (obligation) to eat matzah can only truly be fulfilled if it is eaten with humility. The matzah that the Israelites ate in Egypt was lechem oni, and so, too, the matzah that we eat over Pesach reminds us to be humble– to bitul hayesh, to negate and nullify all traces of ego and self-centeredness, to transcend the illusion of self.
It’s no coincidence that matzah (מַצָּה) and chametz (חָמֵץ) are both composed of the same letters. The only difference is that matzah is spelled with a hey (ה) and chametz with a chet (ח). We see that the letter chet (ח) is completely closed from three sides, symbolizing that “sin crouches at the entrance,” while the hey (ה) has an opening on top, which means there is always an opening above, indicating the possibility to return to the Light. As our Sages say, “‘Open for Me as little as the eye of the needle, and I will open for you like the entrance to a hall.’ Rebbe Nachman teaches that each and every person, even the most wicked, must find the one good point in themselves, and that one point, however small, can bring them to merit in Goodness itself.
As we see in Talmud Kiddushin, just one single thought of self-improvement can change someone from a wicked person into a righteous person.”
As Ishay Ribo in his song Leshuv Habaita sings, “The time has come to wake up, to leave everything, to overcome, and to return home.”
As physical creatures, we can’t fully defeat the forces of fate, but our souls, the parts of us that are infinite, can connect beyond the finite world. When we choose to burn our chametz— the false sustenance of pride and devotion to material gain– we can surpass our limitations and connect to the true and everlasting freedom that can only be found in the Light of the Infinite.
READ IT IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/when-the-screens-of-separation-fall/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite
Some quick thoughts on Purim! Soon we’ll be reading the Megillat Esther, which is also Le’galot Ha’ester (meaning “to reveal what’s concealed”). The word Esther is related to the Hebrew word, “I will hide,” which is said in Devarim when Hashem says, “I will surely hide my face.” The Megillah is one of the only books in Scripture not to mention Hashem’s name at all. It’s a story that took place in the Persian Empire long after the Biblical stories in which the miracles and revelations took place.
Purim, like the present, is a time in which Hashem, Melech Ha’olam (King of the Universe), has hidden himself in the universe (Olam / עולם). The root of ‘Olam’ is also something that is unseen, hidden or disappeared (Ne’elam / נעלם). Hashem has hidden himself in the universe so that our actions are of our own free will, but when we create space for Him, we can peel back a bit of the concealment and see Him guiding and blessing us.
During Passover, we retell the story of Egypt to relive it as if we too are being freed and to remember that we too were once strangers in a strange land. With Purim it is said, “If one reads the Megillah in the wrong order (‘literally, ‘backwards’), he has not fulfilled his obligation.” The Baal Shem Tov explains that this refers to a person who reads the Megillah believing that the story it tells occurred only in the past (as a retrospective account) and that the miracle does not endure into the present. With that mindset, the person hasn’t fulfilled their obligation, because the purpose of reading the Megillah every year is for each person to learn how a Jew should behave in the present. Purim is the living revelation of the concealed.
As we go into Purim, we need to continue to tap into the energy of the month of Adar, known as a month of celebration and joy. Adar was the last month that B’nei Yisrael were in Egypt before the Exodus, the time right before things became clear and Redemption revealed itself. We learn in the Talmud that “when the month of Adar arrives, we increase in joy,” welcoming this time of miracles. I pray that we are able to celebrate and focus on joy, illuminating ourselves and each other, sharing and shining light to dispel all the darkness of concealment so that we can revel in the Light of the Infinite with the coming of the Moshaich and the final redemption, speedily!
READ IN FULL @
https://lightofinfinite.com/miracles-and-revelation/
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
Follow on instagram: @thelightofinfinite // Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofinfinite
Some quick thoughts on Purim! Soon we’ll be reading the Megillat Esther, which is also Le’galot Ha’ester (meaning “to reveal what’s concealed”). The word Esther is related to the Hebrew word, “I will hide,” which is said in Devarim when Hashem says, “I will surely hide my face.” The Megillah is one of the only books in Scripture not to mention Hashem’s name at all. It’s a story that took place in the Persian Empire long after the Biblical stories in which the miracles and revelations took place.
Purim, like the present, is a time in which Hashem, Melech Ha’olam (King of the Universe), has hidden himself in the universe (Olam / עולם). The root of ‘Olam’ is also something that is unseen, hidden or disappeared (Ne’elam / נעלם). Hashem has hidden himself in the universe so that our actions are of our own free will, but when we create space for Him, we can peel back a bit of the concealment and see Him guiding and blessing us.
During Passover, we retell the story of Egypt to relive it as if we too are being freed and to remember that we too were once strangers in a strange land. With Purim it is said, “If one reads the Megillah in the wrong order (‘literally, ‘backwards’), he has not fulfilled his obligation.” The Baal Shem Tov explains that this refers to a person who reads the Megillah believing that the story it tells occurred only in the past (as a retrospective account) and that the miracle does not endure into the present. With that mindset, the person hasn’t fulfilled their obligation, because the purpose of reading the Megillah every year is for each person to learn how a Jew should behave in the present. Purim is the living revelation of the concealed.
As we go into Purim, we need to continue to tap into the energy of the month of Adar, known as a month of celebration and joy. Adar was the last month that B’nei Yisrael were in Egypt before the Exodus, the time right before things became clear and Redemption revealed itself. We learn in the Talmud that “when the month of Adar arrives, we increase in joy,” welcoming this time of miracles. I pray that we are able to celebrate and focus on joy, illuminating ourselves and each other, sharing and shining light to dispel all the darkness of concealment so that we can revel in the Light of the Infinite with the coming of the Moshaich and the final redemption, speedily!
Direct link to this article - https://lightofinfinite.com/miracles-and-revelation/ ✨
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Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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This week’s I wrote about my fam from Ethiopia & Yemen, and the Korbanot (sacrifices), see how it all ties into the Parashah!
- 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 - We read: “When one among you offers a sacrifice to G-d…”. Immediately, we ask, what sort of sacrifice? Why? and how? King David, whose son built the first Temple, writes in Psalms, “For You [G-d] do not desire sacrifices; else I would give it: You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
Animal sacrifices were a way for ancient Jews to elevate themselves spiritually, but the sacrifices would have been meaningless if they weren’t done with true intention and a full heart to heal oneself and the harms one has done. King David writes that God will not despise a “broken spirit”, because true remorse makes a person feel broken, and true repentance comes from the desire to be connected to Hashem again, in order to be whole. In order to achieve this level of return, teshuva, we were commanded to bring a sacrifice in the time of the Temple, just as we are now commanded to pray, in the absence of the Temple.
The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban which comes from the word karov or lekarev meaning “close” or “to bring closer”. It’s written in the pasuk, מִכֶּם, which means yourself, implying the one who is offering the korban, is sacrificing themself. I love how Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks puts it: Vayikra is about why love needs law and law needs love. It is about the quotidian acts of devotion that bring two beings close, even when one of them is vaster than the universe and the other is a mortal of flesh and blood. It is about being human, sinning, falling short, always conscious of our fragile hold on life, yet seeking to come close to God and – what is sometimes harder – allowing Him to come close to us.
The sacrifices were a beautiful and spiritual ritual – picture the elements surrounding the sacrifice, with the presence of the kohanim accompanied by the chanting of the Lev’im. The Zohar teaches that the service of the kohanim was in silence, with the devotion of the heart, signifying drawing forth, from Above, while the service of the Levites was with music, signifying sublimation; elevating from below upwards. As it’s written, “The Kohanim in their silent service and their desire drew God’s presence downwards and the Levi’im in their songs and praises drew man’s soul and his sacrifice upwards.”
The second part of the pasuk and sacrifice pertains to an animal and one’s animal soul. As it’s written, “…from animals – from cattle or from the flock shall you bring your offering.”
This relates to the physical body, physical desires, the natural world, so it is the physical sacrifice– actually giving up the animal (or its modern equivalent)– with the purpose to sanctify and redirect the “animal” in man. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that when the animal in man is harnessed in the service of God it has the power to take him closer to God than his Godly soul alone could reach. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward. Reb Natan of Breslov teaches that a peron’s sin is due to their lack of da’at as it’s written, “A person sins only because a spirit of foolishness overcame him.” To rectify this lack of da’at the person must bring an animal sacrifice which reflects that animals lack da’at and in this way the person demonstrates their readiness to sacrifice their animalistic tendencies.
We learn that the animal sacrifices in particular have the power to rectify the lowest worlds and that the korbanot in general correspond to the Act of Creation, when Hashem separated good from “bad”. In the same way the korbanot separate good from evil.
This is mirrored in how we tend to the sanctuaries within our own souls, the inner acts of sacrifice we practice each day, the desire we have to bring holiness down from above, and the artfulness we use to draw our spirits and surroundings upward.
** THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET, READ THIS DVAR IN FULL @ https://lightofinfinite.com/spiritualize-reality/
Thanks for listening/reading.
Much love, Erez Safar
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A letter from The Rebbe in the Positivity Bias by Mendel Kalmenson changed my life when my mom passed away. Today's article in @Chabadorg explains how.
“…Erez Safar, who had received a copy of the book from R' Eli Bachman, (Chabad, UofMaryland), was particularly taken with the Rebbe’s response to a letter writer who wrote about his hardships & troubles despite leading a very blessed life.
As Kalmenson noted, in one particular point in the book, “the Rebbe advised that words & feelings of gratitude that we express to G‑d for the blessings we already have in our lives actually become the vessels for new blessings to flow to our lives.”
“When one does not recognize the explicit good bestowed on them from Above …,” wrote the Rebbe, “is it any wonder that [more] are not forthcoming from Above in other matters.”
Said Safar, “A year+ later, my mother passed away & I remembered the book & that letter & I launched two projects, ‘@DontBlockYourBlessings’ & ‘@theLightofInfinite,’ ” . The former asked people to share stories about how they are seeing the blessing in their lives. Almost immediately, Safar said, people began posting videos. The Don’t Block Your Blessings initiative has morphed into an online festival hosting tens of speakers from pop culture to share their blessings with an online audience.
The Rebbe would often rephrase negative statements into “a not positive” construction, noted Safar. For example, rather than referring to an animal as “unkosher”, the Rebbe would use the term “not kosher”. Safar, a Torah & kabbalah columnist, said that “the fact that the Rebbe took positivity to such an extreme is just inspiring. [And a reminder] to be so aware & mindful of how we talk, & how we can manifest our own positivity.”
Today, Erez's writing a book of Torah commentary & the festivals that focuses on positivity & blessings.
“If you look at Instagram, people are sharing positive messages in their stories because that’s what they want to hear—that’s the message people want in their lives,” he said. “The more positive you are, the more you will bring those things into your life; & the more negative you are, the more negativity you will bring into your life.”
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Much love, Erez Safar
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The great Rabbi Akiva taught that the fundamental principle of the Torah is to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The great sage Hillel went so far as to say that, “this is the entire Torah; all the rest is commentary.” Many ask if that is possible, when our default is selfishness and making sure first and foremost that we are taken care of. The Baal Shem Tov expounds on Rabbi Akiva’s lesson:though we are aware of our many faults, we still look out for and love ourselves, and we need to do the same for those around us despite their faults. We need to uplift and elevate and that can only be done when leading with love of the “neighbor as yourself.”
Ahava (ah-ha-va)/אהבה/love. In Hebrew, the root word for ‘love’ is ‘hav’ which means “to give”. Loving is synonymous with giving — as real love is created. As The Beatles say, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”
You see this most clearly in the love a parent gives to their child. As a baby, the child’s existence fully depends on the parent giving of themselves at every moment. This tireless giving creates an attachment stronger than any other kind– profound, unconditional love. So the greater the giving, the deeper the love. Ahava has the same gematria (numerical value)– 13– as the word Echad (the Hebrew word for ‘one’). And so to reach oneness and love, we have to be in tune with each other and ourselves, and when we share our oneness and our love, that is 13 + 13, which is 26. And as many of us know, 26 is the numerical value of Hashem’s four-letter name (the Tetragrammaton), the ultimate Divine Infinite Light. When we read the famous verse , “And you shall love the Lord your God.” We are left asking, how it can be that we are commanded to feel a feeling? This is especially curious for people that tend to believe that love is a sensation that magically, spontaneously appears, while that is something entirely different than love. It may be because this way of thinking is so prevalent, that Erich Fromm writes in “The Art of Loving”, “There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love.” To illuminate the verse from the Torah, our sages point out that it’s not an abstract feeling that is being presented to us, but rather the command to act lovingly, and by this act, love will be created. Love is a choice, and an action. In this way, the commandment , “And you shall love” manifests through all the ways in which we perform acts of love in the world.
In his TED Talk, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks suggested to his audience that they run a Search-and-Replace operation on the texts of their minds and substitute every instance of the word “self” with the word “other.” So instead of trying to do “self-help”, you would do “other-help”; instead of looking after your “self-esteem”, you would look after “others’-esteem”. He went on to say that, “if you do that, you will begin to feel the power of one of the most moving sentences in all of religious literature: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”
When we feel isolated and cut off from love, it can feel like darkness all around. The Zohar teaches that darkness isn’t an entity unto itself, it is the absence of light. And if darkness is the absence of light, then a little bit of light, a little bit of love, will illuminate a lot of darkness.
Just as important as the act of giving is the sincerity and love in which it is given. If our heart compels us to want to hold on and not let go, it is the act of giving and letting go that we must master. All of life is about loving and creating love for others, which always brings to mind what the Lubavitcher Rebbe said so beautifully, “You already belong. You are already holy. You are already loved. Now you too must love, and by loving, help others feel that they also belong.” Many of us have heard that we are one nation and also one Torah scroll, in which each individual is one letter. And so we are interdependent, equally important, and one. David Sacks, one of my favorite humans, a writer and producer of The Simpsons and a frequent presenter at my Don’t Block Your Blessings festival, explains that each letter, and each of us, is a musical note and that our task is to live in harmony by being in tune and tuning each other. We should strive to not be dissonant. He gives the analogy of someone sitting at a beautiful piano and playing the black and white keys and it not sounding right, wondering what’s wrong, and just then someone comes to tune the piano. Suddenly, it all sounds gorgeous. The piano is beautiful and what was being played had the potential of beauty, but it needed to be in tune, and that’s our mission– we need to uplift each other, judge each other favorably and show love to one another.
If you focus on others as you would yourself, then you will love yourself more and, by virtue of that, become love for others.
READ IT IN FULL @ lightofinfinite.com/the-secret-to-love/
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Much love, Erez Safar
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This audio is a bit of a Public Service Announcement from Erez Safar of the Light of Infinite to you🤍🕊
As physical creatures, we can’t fully defeat the forces of fate; we’re constricted by time and space. But our souls-- the parts of us that are infinite-- can reach beyond these constrictions. It’s only when we choose with our souls to surpass our limitations that we can connect to the true, everlasting, joyful freedom that can only be found in the Light of the Infinite.
Thanks for listening.
Erez Safar
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